Warning about HF 12 Ton Jackstands

[Matt M PA]

I haven't seen them in person..but a friend called me yesterday with a scary story.

This week, he bought a pair of the above mentioned jack stands to aid the changing of springs on his 2005 F250.

Yesterday, he told me that one of the stands dropped. He had used other stands in various positions as "back up" and thankfully wasn't under the vehicle when it occurred. They tried the other form this new pair...and it too dropped.

He looked further into the stands and mentioned that the contact area between the sliding "stirrup" amd the pawl was lacking. I'm sure they will be returned and some sort of complaint will be lodged.

My reason for writing this isn't to beat up on HF...but a warning to fellow GJ folks to be careful if you have these stands.

 

[sometoyotaguy]

I like the ones with the pins. They aren't going anywhere unless it breaks. I'm glad your friend is ok. Backups are a must if you're underneath a vehicle. Even if it's sliding a rim under the rocker.

 

[bobcatdan]

Im thinking a informative letter to HF is an order. The liability aspect of a jack stand failing when it is the safety device. Maybe I am too nieve, but in our sue happy plus government agencies looking out for our safety world, I would guess any jack stand has to pass a minimum standard.

 

[Danglerb]

I'm not getting a good picture of what happened, the pawl should seat on the tooth and be close to impossible to move under load, contact area doesn't seem to be a factor, either it seats or it doesn't.

Picts would help.

 

[Formula]

I'm not getting a good picture of what happened, the pawl should seat on the tooth and be close to impossible to move under load, contact area doesn't seem to be a factor, either it seats or it doesn't.

Picts would help.

I'm thinking the same thing.

 

[lightning02]

Well this *****. I just bought a pair couple weeks ago. I did use them without problem but now this has me worried.

 

[devoncoolman]

Most jack stands once there is pressure against the pawl it will actually be forced into place. So if this is happening either the pawl is just touching the edge of the tooth or its a defective pawl.

 

[logical]

I'm reading that the teeth are small so you need to be careful to be sure they are engaged. My craftsman pros and all kinds of other stands out there are like that. It takes a little fiddling and double checking to be sure they are engaged but it always seemed to me that an extra 30 seconds or even a full minute checking things is worth it when you are about to lay under something that will crush you if it falls. Glad to hear there was a back-up set there.

I don't wrench for a living and freely admit I am probably one of the slowest mechanics in the world but if I'm even reaching an arm very far under a car it's on stands and either the wheel, a second stand or at least the jack (backed off a hair so it isn't supporting the vehicle) is there too.

I am not exactly a Harbor Freight fan but I have looked at most things they sell. At this point, I can't jump on the "lawsuit/complaint/defective" bandwagon. My guess is they got a little careless with setting up a set of stands that aren't very forgiving.

 

[Strouty]

I like the ones with the pins. They aren't going anywhere unless it breaks. I'm glad your friend is ok. Backups are a must if you're underneath a vehicle. Even if it's sliding a rim under the rocker.

They are supposed to be the backup! I never put anything else under the vehicle once my stands are in place. I do however shake the vehicle before going under it, gives me a warm feeling know it didn't tip over or fall off the stands. MAINE RULES!

 

[DanInVA]

I have a set of the 3 ton jackstands and have not have any problems. This ***** to hear though. Glad your friend is ok op.

 

[CobraChevelle]

thanks! i was looking at these for my f250.. might be looking at torin double locking @ northern tool

 

[Shadowdog500]

Do you have any photos???

 

[quattroJoe]

I would never, ever trust my life to a HF jack stand.

My thoughts exactly! We see the corners that are cut and the lack of QC in cheap Chinese products, all in the name of selling for the lowest price (lead paint in children's toys and poisonous pet food come to mind.) Anything you're trusting your life to is not the place to cheap out.

 

[MrJason]

I haven't seen them in person..but a friend called me yesterday with a scary story.

This week, he bought a pair of the above mentioned jack stands to aid the changing of springs on his 2005 F250.

Yesterday, he told me that one of the stands dropped. He had used other stands in various positions as "back up" and thankfully wasn't under the vehicle when it occurred. They tried the other form this new pair...and it too dropped.

He looked further into the stands and mentioned that the contact area between the sliding "stirrup" amd the pawl was lacking. I'm sure they will be returned and some sort of complaint will be lodged.

My reason for writing this isn't to beat up on HF...but a warning to fellow GJ folks to be careful if you have these stands.

Harbor Freight takes this stuff seriously, and you can tell your buddy to send pictures and the story to HF corporate in Camarillo, CA.

They'll take care of him and dive into the possible causes rather quickly.

I had a set of jack stands, fail on me, I wasn't under the car at the time and I took a bunch of pictures and drove down to Camarillo and wanted an explanation from HF.

To my surprise, they were friendly and swapped out my squashed new pair, with another new pair. With a stack of 25% anything coupons and a tour of their facility.

About a few weeks later they found that there was a defect in the manufacturing process and pulled that lot from the stores.

Jason

 

[rlitman]

Harbor Freight takes this stuff seriously, and you can tell your buddy to send pictures and the story to HF corporate in Camarillo, CA.

They'll take care of him and dive into the possible causes rather quickly.

I had a set of jack stands, fail on me, I wasn't under the car at the time and I took a bunch of pictures and drove down to Camarillo and wanted an explanation from HF.

To my surprise, they were friendly and swapped out my squashed new pair, with another new pair. With a stack of 25% anything coupons and a tour of their facility.

About a few weeks later they found that there was a defect in the manufacturing process and pulled that lot from the stores.

Jason

That's not taking this seriously. That's hushing ONE customer. A recall of the defective batch that clearly made it to stores AND customers would be taking it seriously.

If I had a jack stand fail I would file a CPSC complaint.

 

[stikman56]

Most jack stands once there is pressure against the pawl it will actually be forced into place. So if this is happening either the pawl is just touching the edge of the tooth or its a defective pawl.

DO NOT TRUST these jack stands. If you have any doubts, I'll take a picture of my friends broken one that gave him a broken rib and post it! In fact,next time I see him I'll tell him to bring that to work so I can do just that. It had way less than 12 tons on it when it broke. Throw them away. It's not worth the risk, unless you have no issue being crushed to death.

 

[TheGrooveking]

I have two pairs of these for my F250SD, never had a problem but will be more cautious.

TheGrooveking

 

[General Geoff]

How much extra time/cost does it take to actually test every jack stand that leaves the production line? I would think with the right automated process, it would only take 10-20 seconds to test each stand before it goes on the shelf.

 

[DoyleDee]

I think that my life cost a little bit more than these stands.... I am lucky that I haven't had to buy any stands, they were used and gifted to me by my father and grandfather. I haven't used them much since I bought my lift though - at all really..they just sit on a shelf now until I need them.
Growing up in a family that were diy guys helps. .

 

[panknuckshovel]

Shouldn't this thread be titled " Warning about HF inventory "?

 

[davewo]

Two of the four HF jackstands I own have failed in some way.

On one of them, the holes through the J-handle and pawl were so misalligned that the roll pin securing them together eventually sheared. Before letting my jack down, I checked the placement of the stands and noticed this stand was all the way down. I knew I had put it up to the axle. I did. It's just that the pawl did not fully engage and it dropped while I was placing the other jack stand. I no longer trust these on equipment I have to crawl under.

The second stand actually bent at the base. I don't know when it happened. I first noticed when I went to place it under my truck. I lift my vehicles on solid, flat ground, so there's no side loads. I keep this one around to remind me to never trust these things.

I honestly don't know how these things don't have a massive failure rate. From the sheet metal to the welds to the forged (or cast) parts, there's a lot to go wrong... Just be careful using them!

 

[pi_guy]

Shouldn't this thread be titled " Warning about HF inventory "?

It should big time!

To digress I figure that the exacto knife knock off kit that HF sells could not be that bad. Well it would not even cut cardboard, and with the plastic blade holder it will not even keep the blade in the holder.
& the other thing that surprised me was the 100 single edged razor blades over half of them were rusted.

just junk

 

[devoncoolman]

Don't own one single hf jack stand. Always bough higher quality. Still asian made but better then hf ****.

 

[lightning02]

Which jack stands does everyone recommend? I might as well return the ones I bought.

 

[PureLeaf]

I live in the same town as the headquarters of HF, I know people who work for their corporate too. I was always told (as they're occasionally toured through like the R&D stuff), that a lot of their tools are great, like hand tools. But to never buy any of their electric/powered tools, or anything that your life might depend on, because some of those tools do have catastrophic failures.

I can't speak to this from any sort of personal experience with their tools. Just from people I know that work there and see the failed tools that make it back.

 

[panknuckshovel]

Which jack stands does everyone recommend? I might as well return the ones I bought.

A chunk of tree stump or a stack of bricks would be better than HF ****.

 

[lightning02]

A chunk of tree stump or a stack of bricks would be better than HF ****.

looking like it. mine look good but that doesnt mean they are. i used them one time without problem but now that i saw this i dont fully trust them anymore.

 

[Danglerb]

If you can't judge the quality of a tool, maybe its not a tool you should be using?

I was just looking at the HF site, and the 12 ton jack stands are $99/$149 and weigh 34 lbs ea, which seems like a LOT more than what they used to be, so maybe there have been recent changes.

HF has DEEP pockets if they get sued, but I've only seen notice of 4 product safety recalls, fire starter drill, auto fuses, handy switch, and there sit/stand walker.

 

[paulsomlo]

Which jack stands does everyone recommend? I might as well return the ones I bought.

http://www.uniquetruck.com/p-6376-3-ton-jack-stand-flat-top-with-rubber-cushion.aspx?affiliateID=10056&gclid=Cj0KEQiA5K-kBRDZ9r71gOvlxOMBEiQAwkK52BPDQtTKsXQ3oicuB3DWZgMKebE5Oa2g9-wIwYQ2_zcaAtT88P8HAQ
Everybody complains about the price, but compared to a trip to the emergency room, it's peanuts.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

I have two pair of 12 ton HF jack stands that get used on semi trucks.. would I load them to their max rated capacity???? No reason for me to do so... And wood blocking will never go out of style either...just please don't use landscape timbers for blocking...

When I bought these stands, I went to Northern tool to look over the Torin jack stands that they had in stock... they were horrible,, weld splatters, crooked placement of brackets,, just simply horrible.... The HF products I bought were not perfect;;; but did make the Torin products look like **** that day...

So check your equipment over,...New, right out of the box doesn't mean it is ready to use.... I would bet that fellow with the new HF jack stands understands this now..

Don't take any brand for granted when it comes to your safety.

There are definitely better jack stands to be had than Torin or HF ratcheting jack stands....

 

[wild cowboy]

I would never, ever trust my life to a HF jack stand.

I would never, ever trust my life to any jack stand.

Always have a 2nd and even a 3rd backup in case the primary fails - Your floor jack, auto ramps, a tire mounted on a rim, a stack of 2x12's, something!

 

[goodysgotacuda]

I've used my 6ton and 12ton stands extensively.

The problem I have had is other people trying to release the stand with the "is the floor jack high enough yet?" method and it loads that roll pin..making it eventually shear. It hasn't been a safety problem for me as the failure mode is the stand won't lock on it's own anymore. It just falls down when trying to set it. It's a an easy fix and the part is not under load when the stand is in use.

Pair of 6tons and 12tons holding up a 3400# car isn't working them over very much.

 

[wild cowboy]

I've used my 6ton and 12ton stands extensively.

The problem I have had is other people trying to release the stand with the "is the floor jack high enough yet?" method and it loads that roll pin..making it eventually shear. It hasn't been a safety problem for me as the failure mode is the stand won't lock on it's own anymore. It just falls down when trying to set it. It's a an easy fix and the part is not under load when the stand is in use.

Pair of 6tons and 12tons holding up a 3400# car isn't working them over very much.

I agree, the case the OP mentioned was likely operator error, and over a period of time. But I still lust for those $300 each AC Hydraulic screw type jacks from Denmark!

 

[CNGsaves]

I've used my 6ton and 12ton stands extensively.

The problem I have had is other people trying to release the stand with the "is the floor jack high enough yet?" method and it loads that roll pin..making it eventually shear. It hasn't been a safety problem for me as the failure mode is the stand won't lock on it's own anymore. It just falls down when trying to set it. It's a an easy fix and the part is not under load when the stand is in use.

Pair of 6tons and 12tons holding up a 3400# car isn't working them over very much.

^ ^ Nice Cuda !!

If you have that gem up on HF jack stands very often, I'd sure UPGRADE and install yourself a MaxJack lift !!!

I wouldn't trust my life, AND collectible car to HF jack stands !!

 

[wild cowboy]

I like the "rocker cover art" on the wall

 

[Dan Jacobs]

Harbor Freight and jack stands should not be used in the same sentence
Come on fellas you're worth more then that Scrimp on a screwdriver or something

 

[wild cowboy]

I really don't think this is a problem area, I have used HF jack stands for 20 years, none have ever failed, and I just think we would have heard about it by now, they have been selling them for at least 25 years that I know of, and when have you really heard much about this?

I vote operator error.

But I never rely on jack stands alone, even if you just keep your floor jack in place, that is a backup safety system! - or some 2x12 in a stack!

 

[SantaAna12]

"Nice cuda."

^^^+1!

 

[espyking83]

After seeing my Wrangler curl up a cheap 2-ton jack stand like a pop can I decided that it would be best to spend a little extra for quality. Dont screw around guys, one of my cousins found her husband under a truck because of his own lack of concern, people get killed.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Harbor Freight and jack stands should not be used in the same sentence
Come on fellas you're worth more then that Scrimp on a screwdriver or something

Dan, that point would be what many folks conclude... But I question if HF owns a jack stand factory..

So many of the HF offerings can be found in competitor's stores with a different badge and paint scheme.. Whether they came out of the same factory, and were built to the same standards would lead to question any of them.. Whether the HF jack stands are any worse than their imported competitor's jack stands could be a **** shoot...