Consumer complaints about faulty jack stands from Harbor Freight Tools have been reported for more than a year. Just watch this video from May 2019:
Harbor Freight responded with a massive recall for their popular $20 jack stands that were made in China between December 2012 and March 2020.
If you’ve got a set of jack stands in your garage, check if it is part of Harbor Freight’s Safety Recall for 1.7 million Pittsburgh Automotive® 3-Ton and 6-Ton Heavy-Duty Steel Jack Stands that can suddenly collapse during use.
Bad jacks are extremely dangerous. If a jack fails under load, it can easily kill or injure anyone working under a lifted car or standing nearby.
On May 3, Harbor Freight recalled more than 1.2 million Pittsburgh Automotive 3-Ton Heavy-Duty Steel Jack Stands because they can collapse.
The recall was an expansion of an earlier recall on March 20 for 454,000 Pittsburgh Automotive 6-Ton Heavy-Duty Steel Jack Stands due to the same safety hazard — suddenly collapsing during use.
Harbor Freight said the recall only applies to 3-ton and 6-ton heavy-duty steel jack stands with item numbers 56371, 61196, and 61197.
The number on the 3-ton jack stands can be found on a label on top of the stand. The number for the 6-ton jack stands is printed on the yellow part of the label on the base.
If you own one of these jack stands, bring it to Harbor Freight Tools to exchange it for a gift card equal to the “shelf price” of the stand — and if you know anyone who might own one of these stands, tell them about the recall. You may just save their life.
Source: Harbor Freight recalling 454,000 jack stands because they can drop causing ‘serious injury’