jackstands.jpg

Duff Mfg. Jack Stands

Posted by 141drew Posted onApr 10, 2015 at 2:23 PM and filed under Reviews & Features
Updated onUpdated on May 28, 2021 at 11:37 AM


You know those high end “urban salvage” places that find industrial goods at auction, wire wheel them, price them astronomically, and then market them to interior designers? I found the above jack stands at one of those places. And I would have bought them, but the pair was priced at $650.

The thing is, I loathe jack stands. I don’t like using them, I don’t like storing them, I just don’t like them… and really, this is the only reason I have a lift. So, getting me to buy a pair of $650 jack stands is next to impossible – even if they just might be the coolest jack stands in the world.

Apparently, they were made sometime in the early 1900’s by Duff Mfg. in Pittsburg, Pa.


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3

3baygarage

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They look cool. No release lever? Do you know how they adjust? Is the bottom a locking mech. that has to be opened up for every height adjustment or does the top slide out horizontally?
 
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mmack66

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Looks like the two legs open up so you can adjust the height.

They look cool, but they sure don't look like they would be very safe.
 
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rubberrodder

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They are cool. Not $650 cool, but still cool. Maybe you could use them as coffee table legs in the employee lounge, or resell the table for major coin.
 
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Brad54

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For about $75, they'd make a great lamp base...
Past that, I just can't see it...
 
J

johnny ro

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Looks like they fold for stowage in a trunk and it is gravity that prevents that while under weight.

$650?

I will keep an eye out in rural New England, target price $20. Most likely will never see them again.
 
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Doug B

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I have an old Duff ratchet jack similar to this one....I'll take $600....Line forms over there-------->

:thumbup::lol_hitti
 

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James E

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$650 is a bargain. You need special Duff jack stands for the Duffmobile.

latest
 
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DIC

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I think its safer to use them for bookends than for holding a vehicle up :dunno:
 
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Freejack

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I'd like to see these in person. Several have said they look unsafe, but based on what I can see in the picture, it appears that the more load placed on the stands, the more inward force the jaws are going to place on the teeth.

Jake
 
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skcj213

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I agree with Freejack. It looks like the sides of the stand folds inward to unlock the pedestal. The more weight you put on them the tighter the stand will clamp the pedestal. The point I would be concerned about is the strength of the pivot points. If they are robust I don't see how they would be "unsafe".
 
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mmack66

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It doesn't look like there is much in the way of lateral support for the column, which is why I thought they looked unsafe.
 
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ilovevocs

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My concern would the what appears to be alack of horizontal constraint on the "post" portion of the stand; not so much its ability to hold a static load, but what happens when you apply a horizontal load.

Cool, but I concur with others about price. Yuppies f'ing up the market for everyone.
 
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Stuart in MN

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You know those high end “urban salvage” places that find industrial goods at auction, wire wheel them, price them astronomically, and then market them to interior designers? I found the above jack stands at one of those places. And I would have bought them, but the pair was priced at $650.

I wonder how an interior designer would repurpose these things? They look cool but I'm not sure what you'd use them for in your living room.
 
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bwringer

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I'm staring at these, and I think there are some missing parts. My best guess is that there were some spring or wire pieces that would keep things in place.
 
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js73751

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bwringer said:
I'm staring at these, and I think there are some missing parts. My best guess is that there were some spring or wire pieces that would keep things in place.
Click to expand...

I initially thought so as well. However it would appear that standing on the cross lock would lock the legs at the proper width and simultaneously "vise grip" the saddle column into place. Beautifully simple in their design, with no superfluous parts in order to function. Certainly not the safest setup. Quite frankly, and please, I know that people have been gravely injured and died using jack stands, I appreciate the idea that one had to take care and know exactly what to do in order to use these correctly.

Seems it would make a great poster as a visual analogy questioning ones safety procedures, frequent inspections of tools, skill set, and reminding one of the concept of personal responsibility.
js
 
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Bruce Lancaster

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They don't have much range of adjustment...my flying guess is that they are part of a set of four, made for storage rather than wrenching. Four post sets are common in pre-WWI catalogs, meant to get the tires off the ground while the car hibernated. With mostly dirt roads, cars weren't particularly usable in the snow season except maybe in developed downtowns and winter storage was very common. Preservation of tires was a BIG issue, as early tires were pretty much **** and very expensive to boot.
I've even seen ads for deluxe patented four jack sets that lifted from the hub outside the wheel, so a car could be lifted off its tires easily and quickly each time it retired into the garage by just throwing four levers over center...

Here's patent # US997497 A
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US997497.pdf showing one of the external type
 
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R

rye

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Sure, I agree technically that these might be safe as it tightens on the teeth under load. But this is not the concern. The concern is if anyone who spends that much on them actually used them. They would probably have jacked up their car from the radiator.
 
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Mark914

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New Haven CT
Cool stands! I would like to share my old ones. Wish I knew a manufacturer or a date. The bottom plate is cast. No markings. Picked them up at a garage sale a few years ago. Anybody seen ones like this ?
 

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Fcvapor05

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I certainly wouldn't recommend buying a set of jack stands made in an era when family cars weighed 1,000 lbs, and then trying to use them in an era when grocery getters weigh 4,000 lbs. Just a thought.
 
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