| Author | Message | ||
     Mark Luft Frequent User Username: bentleyman1993 Post Number: 312 Registered: 10-2016 |
I saw this and thought I'd post it here just in case someone has a pair. https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/harbor-freight-recalls-17-million-jack-stands-over-concerns-they-could-collapse/ar-BB14kbdg?ocid=spartandhp | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 3043 Registered: 06-2009 |
Thank you very much. I could not recall whether any of my sets of jack stands had come from Harbor Freight (and it turns out none had), but the warning is most appreciated. Brian | ||
| Geoff Wootton Grand Master Username: dounraey Post Number: 2207 Registered: 05-2012 |
Thanks Mark - Just my luck - I have two 61197 6 ton stands. Thanks again for the heads up. Geoff | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 3700 Registered: 04-2003 |
There was a similar recall here some time ago for certain imported jack stands that didn't comply with the applicable Australian Standards. As far as I am aware, the retailers selling them had to carry the cost as the importer either no longer existed or declared bankruptcy. | ||
| Trevor Hodgekinson Experienced User Username: wm20 Post Number: 175 Registered: 11-2006 |
There is a very good reason why I never buy any unbranded tools or parts and in particular from and "discount" retailer. Just finished doing an Aldi Chainsaw. Like many of these cheap Chinese imports the fuel line was made from a high latex rubber so had gone hard & split in a dozen places. Particularly dangerous in this case as the carb sits in a cast basin so the split fuel line filled up the entire basin ( about 200 ml ) with fuel while the saw was running. Owner did say it smelt strongly of fuel when it was running. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 3044 Registered: 06-2009 |
Jack stands are about as far from "rocket science" or high-tech as a tool comes. This same recall was announced by a member on the Toyota forum I now am active on, since I own one. Another member followed up with the smug, "Well, I don't own any of that junk," reply. What I said there bears repeating here: I'll bet this is not going to be limited to Harbor Freight. A very great number of brand names in the world have outsourced their manufacturing "on spec" to China. I'll lay money before it's all over that we'll be seeing brand names, and respected ones, that had the same facility/facilities make their jack stands on spec have recalls too. Anyone foolish enough to believe that most name brands don't have stuff like this made in China, to their specifications, and haven't been doing so for a long time now has not been paying attention to the labeling on the very things they buy. It applies to things other than tools, too. Look at where many of your parts come from. It's very often not from the country where the brand you're buying has its roots. You can get stellar quality control anywhere in the world now, if you're willing to pay for that. But what you pay for that is far less in some places than others, just like labor, etc. We are a global economy. Brian | ||
| Trevor Hodgekinson Experienced User Username: wm20 Post Number: 176 Registered: 11-2006 |
Branded items are usually subjected to some sort of QC. This if for no other reason is because office twerps believe that a brand name has a value. They just sold the brand name BSA for £16,000,000. That brings up the total paid for the use of the BSA brand name to around £ 200,000,000 since 1973 when the company was short sold into oblivion and since that day almost nothing has been made with BSA on the side of it save some horrid rebadged 125cc motorcycles & rifles . Every major brand has a factory in China or has a manufacturing arrangement with a factory in China and these produce high quality goods, on par with any other factory on the planet and the output is subject to QC. However when the buyers for HF or any other junk merchant sends a set of jack stands to a factory in China with the instruction to "make 1,000,000 that look exactly like this as cheap as possible " then this is when we get trash and it is always unbranded and never has any sort or serial or batch number on it so it can not be tracked or traced back to the source. As of 2016 China had more satelites in orbit than any other country on the planet . By 2030 they will have more up there than the rest of the planet all added up together. So there is no problems getting quality manufacturing done in China, if you are willing to pay for it & not just seeking the lowest possible cost price on the planet. I buy around $ 30,000 / pa of parts and about 75% of these come out of China. About 1/2 of these are aftermarket parts of equal or better quality than the original. They all come here in packaging with the makers name on it and have a warranty. Funny enough I have never had any problems with them other than me ordering the wrong part. However I have customers coming through the gate every day who have bought unbranded parts cheap of the web and found that they do not work | ||
| Bill Vatter Experienced User Username: bill_vatter Post Number: 104 Registered: 09-2004 |
Interesting, but specifically what's wrong with the jack stands? Lots of times all kinds of things are recalled because they do not adequately prevent use in a stupid maner by people who are dangerous when left alone with tools. When using anything like a jack stand I think you need to give it a hard look and ask yourself if it is really secure, or is there something thar might let go and drop the car on your head? Also, after supporting a car on jack stands, I always grab the car by its bumper, and tug, jerk, shake it every which way to see if I can make it fall off. Only after I do that will I crawl under. So Harbor Freight tools come from China, India, and other places where things are made to a price standard, and not necessarily a quality standard. No surprise there. You wanted a tool that didn't cost much, didn't you? Lots of stuff at Harbor Freight is just fine, and some is junk. You just need to look at it hard and figure out if it meets YOUR standard. Caveat emptor. Nothing wron with that. Be a discerning shopper, and all will be fine. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 3050 Registered: 06-2009 |
Bill Vatter:
This is all covered, including a direct link to the actual NHTSA filing from Harbor Freight, in the article referenced by Mark Luft at the outset of this thread. Again, on MSN.com, article, Harbor Freight recalls 1.7 million jack stands over concerns they could collapse:
The NHTSA primary source, Part 573 Safety Recall Report 20E-016. The descriptive information in that document is a bit more detailed than what's in the article, but one would expect that. This is not a case of protecting people from their own stupidity. You can't predict which "bump or knock" might be the fatal one, even if you religiously do safety pre-checks yourself. In fact, your bump or knock to check safety could be what sets a very slow motion failure in motion, at least potentially. Brian | ||
| Trevor Hodgekinson Experienced User Username: wm20 Post Number: 177 Registered: 11-2006 |
And that will only be done because one has dropped & some one is sueing HF. Just fixed another internet nasty - A VidaqlXl garden shredder. Apart from being total trash , there is no interlock so you can take the feed hopper off exposing the sharpened hammers and start the engine. No clutch so even rotating the hammers to clear a jamp could cause the engine to start or bounce off compression as it is powered by a 420cc 15 Hp engine. Totally unsafe and totally illegal. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 3062 Registered: 06-2009 |
There has been an addition to the Harbor Freight jack stand recall. Here is the e-mail I received: ----------------------------- 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 |
