Harbor Freight Jack Stands Recalled

[California]

Harbor Freight Jack Stands Recalled.

item numbers 56371, (3 ton) and 61196, 61197 (6 ton).

a total of 454,000 jack stands made between 2013 and 2019.

 

[downsizingnow48]

Yes I saw that. I have a pair of jack stands that look exactly like the 3 ton versions bought about the same time from some other place. Probably the same thing.

 

[flyerdan]

That's a good point, there are a lot of "brands" that are just stickers applied to the same production run. Didn't see any other possible brands listed in the NHTSA form, so maybe they have dedicated production runs.
Mine were from 1999, so well before the issue; I did let my neighbor know, he races dirt track and would undoubtedly have a bigger circle that might be affected.

 

[CA_Bgrwldr]

IME, that is just a poor design. I got an older set along with a bunch of other stands and ramps about ten years ago, and used them just once. Was rebuilding a set of leaf springs, had my regular stands supporting the truck, and using these on the axle. Chasing a nut under the truck, I kicked the lever crawling back out, and it released, so I turned them into adjustable stands for cutting long sections of material.

 

[California]

There's another design flaw across more versions than just this recalled series: The first time you put the mast into the base you need to hammer in a tab that prevents the mast from coming out again. The tab is visible on the red jackstand in the recall notice, its near the top of the base.

If you don't bend the tab, the mast can be pulled up past the last ratchet tooth but can rest on an internal shoulder - where a slight bump can make it fall off that shoulder and drop down.

A few years back I returned a pair to HF that could be pulled up all the way to that shoulder after that tab was bent in.

 

[A-one]

More Jack stands recalled. SKU 56373. If you own 56371 56372 and 57308 (3 ton), 56368 56369 and 56370 (6 ton), or 56374 and 56375 (12 ton) you can return them if you don't feel safe.

 

[Gary Fowler]

More Jack stands recalled. SKU 56373. If you own 56371 56372 and 57308 (3 ton), 56368 56369 and 56370 (6 ton), or 56374 and 56375 (12 ton) you can return them if you don't feel safe.

I saw some at Walmart that looked just like the Harbor Freight stands and havent seen any recalls on them. Probably should be though.

 

[California]

More Jack stands recalled. SKU 56373. If you own 56371 56372 and 57308 (3 ton), 56368 56369 and 56370 (6 ton), or 56374 and 56375 (12 ton) you can return them if you don't feel safe.

The email from Smidt says 56393 was the 3 ton available as replacement for the recalled ones. Now some of this model were found to have bad welds.

I read elsewhere that similar jackstands have a pin to lock the height adjustment. For the future I think I would look somewhere else and buy stands with that pin.

As I noted in post # 5 above, some HF jackstands can be adjusted to a false 'tooth' that is just an internal shoulder. You don't expect this and don't see if if you are reaching under a car. That design is inherently dangerous.

 

[A-one]

I don't have any. I've had the same Craftsman Jack stands for the past 15 years probably. And they were probably made in the same factory that the Harbor Freight stands were.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Just like most electronic stuff, all made by the same company.