Harbor Freight Jackstand Recall

[bigrig]

This isn't Raptor specific, but knowing that a lot of us here do our own maintenance and modifications, I thought this was important to post.

Harbor Freight is recalling over 1.7 million Pittsburgh-branded jack stands that can suddenly collapse due to a manufacturing flaw. It warned its customers that they need to stop using the defective stands immediately.

Full story here:
https://www.autoblog.com/2020/05/20/harbor-freight-jack-stands-recall/

 

[pat247]

Good call, I checked the item #62393 on my harbor freight 6 ton and the number did not match the recall, I appreciate the heads up though. Gave me a scare for a second as I planned to have the truck on these stands today doing maintenance.

 

[bigrig]

I received this message from Harbor Freight today. Looks like they found a defect with some of the jack stands that were replacements for the original defective jack stands. It also sounds like they will offer a full refund for jack stands now. Here is the letter:


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

 

[Gary E]

I returned two pair of jack stands to HF. One pair was new in box. I opted for them giving me one new pair and a refund (gift card only choice) for the other pair. The value of the gift card was less than I paid for the pair by about $10. They said the price has come down since I bought them. They won't give you what you paid for the jack stands, only the amount that they now sell for.

 

[rmoore311]

Yikes! I’d be cautious of cheap Jack stands anyway on a truck like that but good looking out with the notice

 

[Gary E]

Yikes! I’d be cautious of cheap Jack stands anyway on a truck like that but good looking out with the notice

The new ones are fine. I have used them while changing out the rear springs to Deavers.

 

[rmoore311]

The new ones are fine. I have used them while changing out the rear springs to Deavers.

Good to know. I just noticed this was an old post so i guess it got resolved

 

[bigrig]

Just to close the loop, I returned my jack stands to Harbor Freight several months after that notice came out. They had no problem giving me a refund. I forget the specific deal, I think you get a full refund if you take it in store credit, or you get some pro-rated cash back deal if you don't want the store credit. The whole experience was pleasant. It felt the same way it used to feel when you tried to warranty Craftsman at Sears back in the 80s.

I decided to replace the HF jack stands with an overkill option. I have been very happy with my new jack stands and would recommend them to anyone.