MTFCA Forum

I just received a notification on facebook that some 3 ton and 6 ton jack stands from Harbor Freight are being recalled because the pawl can disengage letting them fall. The model numbers are 56371, 61196 and 61197. They recommend that you stop using them and return them. They will give you a gift card equal to the shelf price. They also asked that everyone spread the word about these stands. Their explanation is that they were manufactured on some worn equipment.

Now there's a vendor responding appropriately when they find that the merchandise is not fit for purpose.

When will something similar happen with crap 30 x 3.5 beaded edge tyres, and the tubes which are supposed to hold air?

Allan from down under.

This is part of the central issue with Chinese sourced products: inconsistent production practices and quality control. Yes, they do manufacture some pretty good stuff that is well built and reliable. But issues like infrequent tooling changes, lack of inspection, poor quality control practices, and sometimes corruption of the supply chain keep you guessing if you are indeed getting a good product or not. i have learned the hard way to avoid Chinese sourced ball bearings. Not that they are all bad, but the presence of low quality fakes or "remanufactured" being passed off as new quality bearings is commonplace. After one online purchase of bearing advertised as "new" SKF bearings turn out to be mostly cheap fakes (stamped with bogus SKF markings), I now only buy through factory authorized distributors.

Thanks for the heads up.

I googled looking for a picture and found this article. I'm not good remembering model numbers but a photo I can recognise.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/33572/har ... y-collapse

I have the older orange stands. They have a different number than those being recalled. They have served me well over 15 years on both modern cars and Ts. And very heavy RV. I am inspecting the notches for wear.

We are an automotive society, used to machine and equipment exposure and usage. A person in a country that has almost no exposure to these until very recently can stand at a machine all day and not know what is being produced, any defects that might be present, or missing items. And not care. A society that operates on the social outlook of ''me first'', and I ''have one over on you'' in any business deal cannot be expected to operate by our standards. Add all this to the group of businesses (NO particular one) importing stuff and selling in this country who don't care what they sell, only how cheaply it can be gotten and how dearly it can be sold. Let the buyer beware! My opinion only-NOT posted for debate.

I have some of the older jack stands they sold and they work and hold fine. Good that they notified the issue about the run of new ones. Overall the tools and auto related equipment I have bought from them have been fine and did their jobs. I do have to say that the overseas made products have improved from what they were years ago.

This Jackstand recall is very true! A friend of mine had is his vehicle on these stands and one broke loose, scared him to death and this happened about three months ago..I have six of these and just wrote my friends accident as just one bad stand ....I will stop using mine immediately....there are going back...Guys just don't chance them...at my age I just can't lift a car like when I was 19..

I had a yellowish orange 1 to fail,I had to reweld something on it,can' t remember what but I guess I need to take a picture and maby look at the numbers.
A bad jack stand kinda defeats the purpose of using them.
I must admit,depending on what I am working ,I have a stack of old crappy looking 6x6 treated wood blocks I stack under stuff.Splitting tractors and such they work better anyway.

Extremely well spoken Gary Hammond (tinman).
I once bought a chain hoist from that Chinese garage sale called Harbor Freight. Was rated at 2 tons. The first time I used it was to lift a 900 pound Fordson engine + flywheel. It allowed the engine to get about 4’ off the floor then a chain link was stretched apart and the cast iron crankcase broke into s Thousand pieces !! Chinese?- NEVER AGAIN

You get what you pay for. If nothing else just use them to store your car for the winter.

HF or not, it’s all made in the same factory now unless you pay up for USA made. Don’t get hung up on the brand.

I wonder how far back the stand issue, runs. I have 2 pair that I bought maybe 5 years ago, but they see seldom use.

Terry, It goes back a ways. You need to check the number on the tag.

FYI Everyone: The recall from HF states you will get a store credit (gift card) for the original purchase price + tax AND a 20% OFF Coupon. When we returned out first set of jack stands, we did NOT get the 20% off coupon. When we asked why, the clerk said that store, including the manager, did not have any knowledge of that stipulation. They asked we bring in written proof and they would honor it. So, if this happens to you, go to the HF recalls and print out the recall page that has ALL the details on it. There are more than one so you need to get the one WITH the coupon stipulation and the coupon printed on the last page. IF you can't find it, post on this thread and I will dig up the link and post it here.

I totally realize there are perpetual 20% off coupons available for HF items. BUT, if HF Corporate says you get one more (to use as you please OR to buy more jack stands), the store should be aware and honor the offer. We upgraded to 6 ton stands from the 3 ton stands we had as the 3 ton stands are too short at times.

Here's the link: https://em.harborfreight.com/pub/sf/Res ... psi7ou3i80

Took my pair back today and got a gift card but no 20% off but with being all over the place with coupons will use general ones. Thanks for the heads up and will review recall notices often on their page to assure I do not have any items.

So, being proud of the work I was doing I posted a picture of the form. I was quickly lambasted for using cinder blocks to hold the car up. The next time I had the car up I went to Harbor freight to buy some proper jack stands. Yep, 61196. Now this.
I'm crushed.
But thanks for the information.
Rich

Alot of it is how you stack the blocks.

Now it’s time to hear from all the anti cinder block engineers! It use to be Harbour freight was the whipping boy but it drifted into cinder blocks! All I can say is a great big WOW!

I'm just curious, Has there ever been a cinder block recall?

I don’t know about a recall... but I use to buy actual overcooked cinderblocks from the reject pile at the cinderblock plant for a nickle apiece as long as I promised to use them as landscape retaining walls and not for construction. Who knew?

My forth one escaped somewhere

. That was RICH Dave. Loved the true comment.

I use 4x4 props. Never heard of any recall orders.

Darn
Mine are 62392
I will always be thinking of this while under them

I had four Harbor Freight stands that I bought cheap at a garage sale. The numbers on them didn't match the notice, but they sure matched the pictures, so I tossed them anyway.

CudaMan wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 12, 2020 4:02 pm

I had four Harbor Freight stands that I bought cheap at a garage sale. The numbers on them didn't match the notice, but they sure matched the pictures, so I tossed them anyway.

Mine look exactly the same also and I’m trading them to Hank for a better set

If I had some of those stands that were questionable that I bought at a garage sale or something, I would grind and modify them as needed, no need to toss them, not hard to do. JMHO Dave