1.7 Million Harbor Freight Axle Stands Recalled For Collapse Risk

Three and six-tonne axle stands made by the company built between 2012 and 2020 are part of an NHTSA safety recall
1.7 Million Harbor Freight Axle Stands Recalled For Collapse Risk

If you own a set of three or six-tonne Harbor Freight jack stands, check them right now. If covered by these NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) recall, there’s a risk they could collapse while in use.

The first recall - possibly involving as many as 454,000 stands - went out in March, covering six-tonne heavy-duty axle stands sold under the Pittsburgh Automotive brand built between June 2013 and November 2013. The part number you need to look out for is 61197.

When supporting a vehicle, a “potential shift in weight” could cause the ‘pawl’ to “disengage from the extension lifting post”. This would cause the supported vehicle to drop suddenly, with potentially very nasty injuries for anyone unlucky enough to be under it at the time.

1.7 Million Harbor Freight Axle Stands Recalled For Collapse Risk

In May, a second recall was issued, covering three-tonne Pittsburgh stands manufactured from December 2012 to December 2019 with the part number 61196, and examples of the same model made from January to March this year with the part number 56371. This one potentially covers up to 1,254,000 stands.

The three-tonne stands have the same possible problem, and the cause is blamed on the same factor - ageing tooling at the factory of the units’ producers, Jiaxing Golden Roc Tools Co in Zhejiang, China. In both cases about five per cent of the stands are thought to have the issue, and while only more recent batches are thought to have the defect, the NHTSA is recalling a wider range of them as a precaution.

The three-tonne recall notice states that other three-tonne stands sold under the Pittsburgh brand but built by manufacturers have been evaluated. However, no faults were found. Six-tonne stands from different manufacturers were also said to be under evaluation back in March. Although testing had been delayed by Covid-19, the recall notice stated that there had not been any reported customer incidents from units other than those covered by the recall.

1.7 Million Harbor Freight Axle Stands Recalled For Collapse Risk

Production on all the model numbers listed above has ceased, and completed stands have been removed from sale. Anyone customers with the stands in question are entitled to a gift card “equal to the shelf price”. As well as checking your own stands, it’s also worth nudging anyone you know who might have an affected product.

All of this is a reminder that when using axle stands, it’s worth having some layer of redundancy, be it an additional stand or some other measure. The potential consequences of failure, be it through a defect like this or operator error, don’t bear thinking about.

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Comments

Anonymous

Why the Chinese gotta be trying to kill everybody lately?

05/20/2020 - 09:25 |
26 | 0
Niko Ala-Rämi 🇫🇮

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Are these stands chinese?

05/20/2020 - 11:12 |
0 | 2
Anonymous

Always put the spare wheel under your car even when you have it on jack stands. It won’t stop the car from falling but it will stop you from being completely crushed.

05/20/2020 - 10:48 |
12 | 2
infPICO

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

yeah, thats whats i am thinking of too…I always do the same.

05/20/2020 - 12:50 |
2 | 0
RWB Dude

This is exactly why you don’t buy Harbor Freight 😂

05/20/2020 - 14:40 |
0 | 0
Yert

NEVER go cheap when buying something that affects your safety. If you want some hand tools or something cheap then sure, buy from Harbor Freight, but if it could injure or even kill you if it fails, spend a little extra.

05/20/2020 - 16:56 |
4 | 0
adam thompson

Thankfully, all of our jack stands are like 20 years old and built like tanks. But yeah, always stick something else solid under there just in case

05/20/2020 - 21:19 |
0 | 0
vatelite

proud stare to a stack of brick that I use as a jack stand

05/21/2020 - 06:26 |
2 | 0