I’ve had US Jack 6 ton, Craftsman 4 ton, and MVP 2 ton for 10-15 years now.
I’m not willing to condemn all ratcheting style jack stands due to the HF recalls. Years in the past we condemned pin style stands because 1) people didn’t engage the pin properly and 2) the pin was supposedly could be “knocked out of engagement” by a stray tool handle. Now we have flipped around the other way saying that the ratcheting style break away roll pin doesn’t break away, and the extension bar/pawl contact isn’t good. FWIW, there are now a number of brands that offer ratcheting jack stands with an additional pin.
*EDIT: I personally do think there is one significant flaw in the ratcheting type stands. you might have a roll pin that you’re supposed to install at the bottom of the extension bar... Or you might have this tab to bend or screw to install at the top of the base. I don’t think this is to prevent the extension bar from falling out when it’s upside down. I think it’s to prevent someone from pulling out extension bar past “maximum”, so that the bottom of the extension bar is sitting above the pawl ... slightly cockeyed in the base, looking “fine” and actually staying up under load ... with no actual engagement of the pawl to the extension bar. This is obviously a dangerous situation if you’re not aware of it.
I think the HF recall was caused by the lack of QC by the manufacturer, and the lack of QC by the importing company.
I would limit myself to “major label” lift equipment brands. Ones that have been around a long time making and providing jacks stands, jacks etc. Names like American companies US Jack, Gray. Or Asian import companies like Shinn Fu (aka Hein Werner, Omega, Blackhawk, Pro Lift), Torin (aka Big Red, Blackjack, TCE), Sunex, OTC, Norco and any of their sub-brands. Or European companies like ESCO. I’m sure I’ve missed a few names.
Just don’t give me some imported stands from an unknown factory, from an unknown importer, found by some computer algorithm on Amazon.
As for the stand itself, I think you should look at lift height. You want the stand to be able to have the max height you need. Most of the time this causes you to upsize the capacity of the stand to more than you need.
EDIT: FWIW, I’m also an advocate of “redundancy”, whether that is a wheel, jack, or another set of stands in between you and the concrete. Also, solid ground/concrete with wheel chocks+parking brake. I would suspect that one of the biggest causes of fail are on a FWD vehicle, where one front wheel is raised with the other on the ground without parking brake or wheel chocks.
