Issue with HF replacement jack stands

toximus

I live in my Jeep
Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2018
Messages
7,577
Location
Northern WI
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_sig.jpg

Eric Smidt
Owner and Founder
Harbor Freight Tools
 
This is what happens when you rely on cheap Chinese manufacturing facilities for quality control.

Yes, they're doing the right thing, but it doesn't change the fact that Harbor Freight is still cheap for a reason. When it comes to safety, I don't think I'll put my life in the hands of Harbor Freight.
 
I got the same letter. I thought it was a nice touch that they will let you bring ANY jackstand in now, that you're not comfortable with, for a cash refund.
 
I’m using some old sears ones my dad has, haven’t killed me yet. Also have a set of High-Lift jack stands if I need more room (E.G. stuff were I don’t lift from the axle)
 
if you have a welder you could make your own pretty easily. There is a guy, Nate Pickel of DirtLifestyle, a youtube channel. He has a video on making your own jack stands, they are really beefy and not difficult to make......
 
Whats a preferred usa jack stand? Has anyone considered just beefing these up with some extra metal and weld? i mean if Jeep decided to recall TJ's for the LCA mounts half of us already cut them off and replaced them.
 
I had my TJ up in the air for nine months on Harbor Freight 6-ton jack stands and won't complain about the job they did for the money paid.
 
Was going to return my HF jack stands then realized my model numbers are not covered by the recall. Guess that's good.
 
They also upped the refund price. Originally they only refunded the original purchase price ($21 in my case) on a gift card. Maybe next time I have reason to go in I will see if they will increase the refund.