The Harbor Freight jack stands that we've all bought, borrowed, or seen in our friends' garages are being recalled due to a risk of collapsing under load. Go check yours immediately.
In a recall filed with NHTSA on March 20, Harbor Freight Tools explains that certain six-ton jack stands have the potential to disengage their support pawl under shifting weight, causing the stand to drop suddenly. A second recall, filed May 3, extends the recall to three-ton jack stands. The defect is attributed to aging tooling at the factory that produced the jack stands.
The recall document says that the problem could affect more than 450,000 six-ton jack stands produced between 2013 and 2019 and nearly 1.3 million three-ton jack stands produced between 2012 and 2020. These jack stands were sold under the Pittsburgh brand name. They can be identified by item numbers 56371 or 61196 on three-ton models, and 61197 on six-ton models.
Harbor Freight urges anybody in possession of affected jack stands to return them to the store in exchange for a gift card equal to the price of the stands. Any unsold jack stands covered by the recall have been removed from stores. Check on your buddies and spread the word around—these jack stands are ubiquitous, and a failure like this could be fatal.
From: Road & Track