ANOTHER Jack Stand Recall (Harbor Freight)

[JBW1]

Just received this email, wanted to put it out there if anybody has not seen the NEW (04-07-20)recall on 3T jack stands from HF.
—

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

 

[full chizel]

I got it today too. I just bought a 3 ton lopro Daytona floor jack from there Friday but have good 4 ton jack stands i bought from Sears 5-6 years ago.

 

[Dub11]

US Jack is the on American made stands available at the moment.

I got it today too. I just bought a 3 ton lopro Daytona floor jack from there Friday but have good 4 ton jack stands i bought from Sears 5-6 years ago.

What do they look like?

 

[CR888]

I've got a great idea when your LIFE gets compromised due to buying low cost China tools that have proven to fail.....let's do it again and buy their next death trap & when that fails, let's completely trust them & buy their 3rd attempt. They might kill you, but there cheap @HF.

 

[AVB]

Definitely I don't feel comfortable myself depending on these stands as I work alone; although, I do use them at greatly reduce weight. Normally the heaviest equipment is the large JD and Hustler ZTRs. I do; however, work on my Chevy Silverado every once a while.

In the first recall I had to return 5 pairs of stands. 2 pr of 6 ton and 3 pr of 3 ton stands leaving me one pair of 3 ton stands. When I return them for replacement they didn't even have any replacement stands so I haven't gotten back to replacing them. At least I still got one pair 3 ton stands as I still got hydros that I got to pull to repair them.

Hopefully HFT found this problem before someone got injured or killed because of the defects.

But boy I was doing things a lot more dangerous when I was a teenager working on cars using whatever I could find to hold the vehicles up while I was under them replacing transmissions. But that was back when you could remove one without pulling the engine.

 

[Dub11]

Definitely I don't feel comfortable myself depending on these stands as I work alone; although, I do use them at greatly reduce weight. Normally the heaviest equipment is the large JD and Hustler ZTRs. I do; however, work on my Chevy Silverado every once a while.

In the first recall I had to return 5 pairs of stands. 2 pr of 6 ton and 3 pr of 3 ton stands leaving me one pair of 3 ton stands. When I return them for replacement they didn't even have any replacement stands so I haven't gotten back to replacing them. At least I still got one pair 3 ton stands as I still got hydros that I got to pull to repair them.

Hopefully HFT found this problem before someone got injured or killed because of the defects.

But boy I was doing things a lot more dangerous when I was a teenager working on cars using whatever I could find to hold the vehicles up while I was under them replacing transmissions. But that was back when you could remove one without pulling the engine.

First recall the "teeth" weren't deep enough so that paw didn't have much engagement so if the handle was bumped it could drop. On the new one from what I understand the welds at the seems of the base fail causing it split open.

 

[JBW1]

Everything is “safe” until it’s not. There has to be a situation that brought these specific SKU’s into question. I’d hate to be the first one to find out something has a fatal defect.... Like they say in OSHA, the book is written in blood.

 

[full chizel]

US Jack is the on American made stands available at the moment.


What do they look like?

I have these ones

 

[Dub11]

So here is a pic of the first recall I stole from the web.


And second

 

[JBW1]

Thank you for the pictures! I wonder what the next defect will be???

 

[AVB]

According to the pictures I had returned perfectly good jack stands during the first recall. I would have rejected them when I first pulled them out of the box. Apparently they made a mid production change that caused the problem.

Those pictures of the second recall items shows poor penetration welding.

But in either case the images do show dangerous conditions.

As for what the next defect might be, I would venture that it be the latch.

 

[JBW1]

Yeah, I’m just going to switch to a better brand. It’s easier to go cheap, but with the plague of defects and danger, not worth the $30... I used to have the older orange and white models, and never thought twice about them falling. I think you’re on to something about the latch. On my old ones, you really had to push with effort to get them to release. These newer ones, it’s Literally just a tap and they drop. Last time I used them, I was really concerned about hitting the latch with my foot while squirming under my drive line. Could have been bad. The ones that I currently have are not on the recall list,,, yet. But I think I’ll be taking them back for the refund.

 

[Dub11]

Yeah, I’m just going to switch to a better brand. It’s easier to go cheap, but with the plague of defects and danger, not worth the $30... I used to have the older orange and white models, and never thought twice about them falling. I think you’re on to something about the latch. On my old ones, you really had to push with effort to get them to release. These newer ones, it’s Literally just a tap and they drop. Last time I used them, I was really concerned about hitting the latch with my foot while squirming under my drive line. Could have been bad. The ones that I currently have are not on the recall list,,, yet. But I think I’ll be taking them back for the refund.

US Jack makes the only Merican made ones.

 

[JBW1]

Thanks, I’ll check them out

 

[jakethesnake]

I like wooden blocks

 

[Larry B]

What are (Insert favorite ethnic group to disparage here) jackstands?






Bunper jack and cinder blocks.

 

[Dub11]

What are (Insert favorite ethnic group to disparage here) jackstands?






Bunper jack and cinder blocks.

You mean channeling your inner "pollak"?

I got chunks of on rail road ties.

 

[beaglebriar]

You mean channeling your inner "pollak"?

I got chunks of on rail road ties.

Racist..

 

[Dub11]

Racist..

Funny story, my super snow flake, gonna save the world cousin set up pollak horseshoes at a family dinner. I asked him why he's using a derogatory word for the name of a game and I got a blank look in return.

 

[chipper1]

I've got a great idea when your LIFE gets compromised due to buying low cost China tools that have proven to fail.....let's do it again and buy their next death trap & when that fails, let's completely trust them & buy their 3rd attempt. They might kill you, but there cheap @HF.

.

Definitely I don't feel comfortable myself depending on these stands as I work alone; although, I do use them at greatly reduce weight. Normally the heaviest equipment is the large JD and Hustler ZTRs. I do; however, work on my Chevy Silverado every once a while.

In the first recall I had to return 5 pairs of stands. 2 pr of 6 ton and 3 pr of 3 ton stands leaving me one pair of 3 ton stands. When I return them for replacement they didn't even have any replacement stands so I haven't gotten back to replacing them. At least I still got one pair 3 ton stands as I still got hydros that I got to pull to repair them.

Hopefully HFT found this problem before someone got injured or killed because of the defects.

But boy I was doing things a lot more dangerous when I was a teenager working on cars using whatever I could find to hold the vehicles up while I was under them replacing transmissions. But that was back when you could remove one without pulling the engine.

Maybe you need to buy a Japanese mower jack/jackstand.