Stop using these immediately--Harbor Freight Recall

[CStan]

Buying those things is kind of like buying economy condoms.

[Cooler]

Buying those things is kind of like buying economy condoms.

The local 7-11 store had to comply with local regulations that said that condoms could not be prominently displayed.  You had to ask for them at the counter.  So on the cabinet beside the cash register individual packets were scotch-taped to the cabinet door. 

I said, "Scotch tape does not seem very secure.  You should staple them to the door."
 

Note:  This might have been a 7-11 policy and not a local regulation.  I cannot recall.

[Cooler]

I wonder how they did not notice the worn tooling in all that time?

Perhaps they were hoping the problem would go away on its own.

[CStan]

The local 7-11 store had to comply with local regulations that said that condoms could not be prominently displayed.  You had to ask for them at the counter.  So on the cabinet beside the cash register individual packets were scotch-taped to the cabinet door. 

I said, "Scotch tape does not seem very secure.  You should staple them to the door."
 

Note:  This might have been a 7-11 policy and not a local regulation.  I cannot recall.

Funny.

'Light duty' jack stands not so funny.  I mean, does Harbor Freight and similar joints sell anything somebody would use for a mission critical task like safely holding a 2,000 lb+ vehicle safely off the ground?

Charles Darwin would be a stockholder in Harbor Freight were he alive today.

[Cooler]

Funny.

'Light duty' jack stands not so funny.  I mean, does Harbor Freight and similar joints sell anything somebody would use for a mission critical task like safely holding a 2,000 lb+ vehicle safely off the ground?

Charles Darwin would be a stockholder in Harbor Freight were he alive today.

Our company used to produce the rectangular rings that Ford used for cargo tie downs on the Ford Expedition and other vehicles. 

These were made from high carbon steel, welded and then heat treated to improve the strength of the weld.  They had to hold 800 pounds of force.  After heat treating they routinely exceeded 7,000 pounds (the maximum capacity of our tensile tester).

We used to produce nearly a million of these per year.  Then Ford decided to use the same rectangle for holding down child restraint seats.  These parts were referred to as "Delta Parts" and and deviation from specs could result in criminal prosecution as well as civil suits. 

We contacted our insurance company and asked if our policy would cover us.  They said "no" and that they would drop our coverage if we produced those rectangles.  They explained that 20 or 30 years from now a Ford Expedition in terrible condition could crash and kill an infant.  And we would still be responsible for the damages (financial) and prosecution (if the parts failed to meet specifications). 

We asked Ford to assign a new part number for the car seat restraints so that  we could continue selling the cargo tie-downs.  They declined.

My point is that at some time these items will fail.  It could be from fatigue of the metal, or wear on the gears or something else.  Personally I would not sell those items if it were my business.  Profit to risk ratio is not good.  One or two failures could end up bankrupting the company if the insurance would not cover the damages. 

And how much do they make on these items?  Not  much.

We also used to sell S-hooks for rubber tie down straps.  When the hooks were made from 0.192" diameter medium carbon steel wire we had no issues.  But to compete with China, the U.S. manufacturers first changed to 0.1875" diameter and then to 0.177" diameter.  At 0.177" the hooks were failing repeatedly. 

Each time a hook fails it usually ends up snapping back at the user's face.  Each lost eye cost our insurance company $1,000,000.00.  There were several. 

Using some products is like playing Russian Roulette; if you play often enough you will end up with a big hole in the side of your head. 

I don't know the answer to this problem.  You use the jack stands as a safer option than using a jack. 

Hein-Werner has a reputation for excellent jack stands that were made in the USA.  But I see that they are now "Assembled in the US with US and global components". 

But still a better bet than H-F at a cost of about $50.00 each (but cheap compared to the scary alternatives).

https://www.homedepot.com/p/HEIN-WERNER-.../306919194

[Robert Adams]

Those hein warner ones are the same as the old style HF jack stands. All coming from various suppliers in China. Now I will say that the jack stands that HF sells now have huge chunky teeth. Side by side it's a massive difference.

    But you have to give HF credit as they were the ones that found the issue and initiated the recall. The issue seems to be that most of them were fine but some out of certain factories were made with bad tooling. Can't be easy to trace since everyone changes suppliers and some suppliers then outsource to another factory.
        HF has been doing allot in the last couple years to come out with much better quality new items and they are improving the quality of many of the old products.

[Cooler]

I just got this ad from Northern Tool:  https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/..._200756194

It is not clear to me what this means:  Patented double-lock technology with safety pin design adds extra safety and security when working beneath a vehicle

However I have been happier with the Northern Tool's brand tools than I have been with Harbor-Freight's.  Northern seems to be slightly (and sometimes significantly) better designed and built.

Addendum 1:  This video explains the double lock feature:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYnRE7dE3BI

Addendum 2:  Northern Tool also imported the recalled jack stands.

[TDKPE]

The video doesn't really show it, but the manual pins simply block the ratchet pawl from retracting, either by handle activation or by devine intervention.  I'm not clear on why that's needed, since the pawls are self-energizing so the heavier you load the stands, the harder they're digging into the tooth gullet.  But that's how they work.

[Cooler]

The video doesn't really show it, but the manual pins simply block the ratchet pawl from retracting, either by handle activation or by devine intervention.  I'm not clear on why that's needed, since the pawls are self-energizing so the heavier you load the stands, the harder they're digging into the tooth gullet.  But that's how they work.

The recalled ones were failing because the pawls were not deep enough.  I wonder if this addresses that issue.

I would like a through pin as a safety however. It is not as convenient, but seems more foolproof.

These look good but are only suitable for larger vehicles.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0019JVIPM/_en...166c1ee877

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=http...AdAAAAABAF

[TDKPE]

I know a potential failure mode is when the little tab (circled in yellow) that's supposed to be bent in by the purchaser to prevent the saddle from being raised beyond the last ratchet tooth isn't bent in by the purchaser.  If you pull the post up too far, the pawl sits under the post, with nothing to react against, and a heavy load can fold it under, allowing the post to drop.

Looks like the new ones with the safety pin have some sort of stub pin (the silver thing) to do that.  Presumably, those are shipped fully assembled.  I seem to remember the you-bend-it tang was because they shipped them unassembled, saving the manufacturer one step in the process.  Probably received the cast and fabricated parts from different factories, and just tossed the two groups of parts in the box for retail.