Harbor Freight recall

Just might be important.

Harbor Freight recalls Pittsburgh Automotive 6 Ton Heavy Duty Steel Jack Stands

The jack stands may fail

E36 M3. I have a bunch of those. Mine are silver not red, but damn if I will trust them now.

Thanks for the heads up! 

Not gonna lie, I was afraid of that. I bought a jack there, but I'm getting jack stands from somewhere else. There's a reason my friend calls it "Hazard Fraught"

Ouch I have 4 of the silver ones. 

“If the stand fails, it can suddenly drop...”.  Brilliant.

I occasionally buy something's from HF mostly disposables like gloves or a tool that is needed but will not be used often. My general rule is "If the tool or item fails will it hurt me badly or kill me" For that reason I would not buy jack stands, jacks, grinding wheels, cut off wheels, etc. I will say there has been a improvement in the quality of what they offer over the years. With that said most of the stuff they sell are direct knock offs of other manufacturers products however there is no quick method of determining the quality of the material used.

I'd say there are at least several million pairs of the silvers out there, I have 3 and 6 tons for years and never have I heard any mass issues. I'll continue to use mine since they aren't affected by the recall

These are specific lots that were produced and they are covering their asses.

No fear mongering

I had to go run out and check mine. I just spent two days under my rover with it supported on stands. I bought mine at pepboys, so I am safe. I did have a heartstopping moment there when I saw this thread

I have the orange ones, so I guess they're OK? Probably should avoid using them, although I typically use them on their lowest setting.

Uh, yeah... I haven't gotten around to taking mine back, yet. 

EDIT : The broken off welded piece doesn't seem "structural" - it's there to stop the ratchet handle. 

I wonder if it is a manufacturing issue or a operator issue. Edit: It looks like the teeth are pretty shallow in the above picture. 

I have 4 of the 3000 pound aluminum stands and a couple of 12 ton. They have been flawless for over 10 years.

Toyman01 (Forum Supporter) said:

I wonder if it is a manufacturing issue or a operator issue. Edit: It looks like the teeth are pretty shallow in the above picture. 

I have 4 of the 3000 pound aluminum stands and a couple of 12 ton. They have been flawless for over 10 years.

Seems to be a design issue...

The ratchet teeth on the jack stands may not sufficiently engage the pawl to a sufficient depth, possibly causing the stand to fail under load.

In reply to Toyman01 (Forum Supporter) :

The teeth are pretty small. 

In reply to RealMiniNoMore (Forum Supporter) :

Man, those are shallow.

For the record, mine broke, when it slipped!  I thought it was operator error. 

In reply to RealMiniNoMore (Forum Supporter) :

That's pretty shallow and looks to be poorly formed as well. 

Out of curiosity, I just went to the garage and snapped this pic of my ole 4 tons 

On mine, the cuts are more defined.  The cuts on the HF pieces look very rounded.  I think another important item is how well the pawl and the cuts are matched.  If the HF pawl (wedge) piece is large and the cuts are shallow/rounded that makes for a real dangerous combo.  

In reply to John Welsh :

They look about the same. I'll see if I can get a picture of the pawl that engages with it. Could be where the problem lies. 

Mine are good, did find my craftsman ones are cracked as are my torin big reds.

Not a very crisp edge on that... 

I, too have the orange ones, as well as a pair of the smaller (2 ton?) orange ones, as well. Have used them many times over the years without an issue, but I'll certainly check them now!

In any case, this is why I always put the wheels under the car when I'm working under there. 

I put a red mark at edge of the riser /pawl joint. 

There isn't much of it engaging the teeth. 

I have two pair, both silver, but two different part numbers. One pair of 61197 and one pair 62393.  I purchased both sets on the same day.  Tooth depth is the same for both sets. Given the number 450,000, I am guessing this covers all of them.  I doubt HF has deeper market penetration than 1 in every 200 households.

This must be seriously breaking news, though, as Harbor Freight does not list the recall, nor does cpsc.gov or recalls.gov.

I have the 3ton ones.  Luckily I cheaped out. But makes me think I shouldn't cheap out on safety gear.  Some of those old jensenman(curmudgeon/thumperman) wood triangles would so as well. I'll should start zapping some together. 

Hard to get a picture but the pawls on my ole 4 tons are sharp. 

Made in China nearly 19 years ago

I can not see the pawl in the same way as to make a similar red line.  All the pawl area is enclosed. I wonder too if this is a design flaw with the HF's.