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PSA - Jack Stand Recall

NOTHING to do with Pittsburg PA

So you get a gift card, to buy more cheap items?

I've had probably 80% bad results from any Pittsburgh brand items that I've purchased...and I actually like a lot of the HF stuff.

Abrasives.

HF best best deal is air powered cutoff tool and discs for the newbie.
Then the HF 05" x 6" belt Sanders for Head porting...$30 !
Then the the the i'm done.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Reid (Post 6128394)

I've had probably 80% bad results from any Pittsburgh brand items that I've purchased...and I actually like a lot of the HF stuff.

Gee that's not what I wanted to hear. I recently bought the 2000lb foldable engine stand. The reviews looked pretty good for it.

I have several of those same type, I think I got mine from TSC though. I never trust just one anyway, I always put a couple together and blocking as well. Gonna build some wheel cribbing one of these days and do away with those things.

Maybe that’s why Pitts Steel closed. Lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by Half-Inch Stud (Post 6128273)

NOTHING to do with Pittsburg PA

Do you mean Pittsburgh? :)

"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." Wonder if that means casting flash on either parts is the only problem. I have 4 pairs of the orange ones, for at least 15 years...other than the color they look identical.

You Tube video showing 6 ton stands that can be pushed down with your hand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbzELWxs9Hc

Lots more defective jack stand videos on You Tube

I have been working under cars and light trucks for nearly 50 years. Still alive fortunately. The few close calls I have had with jack stands have always involved the ratchet style stands in this recall. Not limited to the cheap sheet metal Pittsburg brand. Just too many things that can go wrong with that design to feel safe working under that style stand. Poorly cast teeth, low quality latch mechanism, too much clearance between the two, impact wear. I understand the attraction of the quick-set-up with the ratchet. I much prefer a stand with a cross pin to set the height. Takes longer to set but very little chance of shear failure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 67TIGER (Post 6128449)

Gee that's not what I wanted to hear. I recently bought the 2000lb foldable engine stand. The reviews looked pretty good for it.

Hey, don't base it on my experience...all of my P'burgh purchases have been small items, plastic caliper, various small hand tools.
Actually, the metal dial caliper that I have by them has been really good. The plastic digital one is junk.
As for the ratchet stands, I have a really heavy duty pair that belonged to my grandfather...and I'm 61...never any slipping with them.
I have another pair that came from NAPA...smaller but just as reliable. They are from the 1970s. The larger pair is from the 1960s. I have no fear of either set.

I bought 4 of them last year and have used them several times

Just plain silly to stick your head under a vehicle held up by anything sold by Harbor Fright.

I have used the HF stands in the past to hold the rear axle in a given position, along with a floor jack, but will now fabricate new stands with the Cross Pin (I previously used a old engine valve in a precision drilled hole in thick wall steel pipe of the same stand design as Mike posted, in my younger days). The legs on the HF stands could use some mods too if you decided to continue using them.

Tom V.

[QUOTE=69TempestCustomS;6142841]Because they were made in china

...........because they were made in chiner.....

They were made in China, but to a specification for Harbor Freight. And ultimately the customer. It seems nowadays that we can't rely on any governing or technical body to catch stuff like this, so it's buyer beware. I hate jackstanding a car but I know I have to do it, from time to time. But it creeps me out.

Wobbly supports are the #1 reason I love 2X4 cribbing. Looks kinda cheap at first,
but eventually (after seeing just how sturdy they are) jackstands start losing their
appeal. It's like 'what if IKEA sold jackstands', only better.

Once I let the car down on jackstands...any kind of jackstands....I always lift the jack back up to where it makes contact with the lift point of the vehicle but not enough to raise it off the stands. I don't trust either one alone, the stands or the jack.
If the jack will be in the way, I always back up the stands with wood, a spare tire or two or something.

^^^ Lol...just not ours!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's (Post 6142840)

Just plain silly to stick your head under a vehicle held up by anything sold by Harbor Fright.

Chances are you will live allot longer if you follow that advice!!

There is now a recall on the recall... I just got this in an email -

Quote:

To the Harbor Freight Community:

I'm writing to apologize. I often reach out to tell you about Harbor Freight's commitment to quality and all the investments we've made to deliver quality tools at the lowest prices. Your trust matters deeply to me and I'm proud of how far we've come. So when we have a product recall, it hurts.

A few months ago, we recalled our Pittsburgh 3 ton and 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 61196 and 61197) due to a manufacturer's defect. We asked customers to return them and receive a gift card that could be used to purchase replacement jack stands. I felt terrible about that recall because you should never have a concern about the safety of any of our products.

Today, I feel even worse. I'm disappointed and embarrassed because we've identified a welding defect in a small number of the Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKU 56373) that replaced the recalled jack stands. We're now adding these jack stands to our recall. Unfortunately, this defect wasn't discovered during the initial recall investigation. If you own these jack stands or any of the jack stands in our original recall, whether or not you have had an issue with them, please stop using them immediately and bring them back to your local Harbor Freight Store for a full cash refund or store credit (see details here).

We have investigated all of our other Pittsburgh 3 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56371, 56372 and 57308) as well as the Pittsburgh 6 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56368, 56369 and 56370) and Pittsburgh 12 ton steel jack stands (SKUs 56374 and 56375) and did not find the defect. Although none of these other jack stands are being recalled, if you own any of them and have any concern whatsoever, please bring them back and we'll give you a full cash refund or store credit for those as well.

I want to apologize to all of our customers. While we've dramatically grown our team of engineers and inspectors, and intensified our tests and inspections, I assure you that the lessons learned from this will drive further improvement.

As the owner and founder of Harbor Freight, I want you to know that we stand behind every product we sell and that safety will always be our top priority.

Sincerely,

Eric Smidt
Owner and Founder
Harbor Freight Tools

Took mine back yesterday. Gift card. I have other stands same color as HF .look identical but different sticker. Think I bought them at local NAPA. I'm going to pin them with .250 pin. I have habit of double supporting the vehicle. I have alot of 4x4s blocking stacked in garage. Worst time back in 68 working on friends 59 Pontiac convertible. Changing auto trans. He placed 2 -10" concrete blocks vertically under rear axle, With Web of block on housing??!! We were warming on selves,before crawling under, winter,big crash yep we were saved, I double ck everything now. When your are young you are indestructible!

I had a similar thing happen with a concrete block back in the 70s. Had a chevy truck that was going to the junkyard, it had a flat rear tire on it so we jacked it up to remove the tire and wheel to put air in it so we could tow it. Let the truck down, and set it on a block that was handy at the time. The block was upright with the web facing up just like everyone says is the strongest way for them to hold weight, the same way it would be set into a wall.

A few seconds later the truck is on the ground with a bunch of powdered concrete under one of the wheels. This was on the rear of a 1/2 ton rusted out POS, it wasn't even heavy due to the rust, no engine or transmission in it.

Fortunately no one was going under it just to change a tire, but I never used a block again to support anything I wanted to remain suspended.

My father had warned me about concrete blocks as he was a mechanic also, but until you see one crumble like I did that day, you might half believe it. Although I never did use them for anything I was going to get underneath. At that moment it was handy, and it was going to save me finding something better. Plus commonly when misfortunes happen, we were in a hurry........;)