Harbor Freight Recalls Nearly Half A Million Jack Stands

In a safety recall report, Harbor Freight has announced the recall of 454,000 Pittsburgh Automotive brand jack stands. Affected jack stands are the 3 Ton and 6 Ton heavy duty steel jack stands with specific part numbers. On the 3 on jack stands look for the number 56371 on the product label. For the 6 ton stands the number to look for will be on the yellow section of the label and includes product numbers 61196 and 61197.

A report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) specifically mentions the 6 Ton Heavy Duty Steel Jack Stands with product number 61197 as being defective. A different report on the Harbor Freight website includes the other two product numbers, 61196 and 56371, in the recall. All jack stands listed in the recall should be replaced and no longer used for any reason. The product defect means the jack stands could fail under pressure allowing the vehicle being supported to fall. This could end in serious injury or death for anyone under the vehicle.

The recall does not apply to all versions of jack stands at Harbor Freight as they have products from different suppliers. I own a pair of Pittsburgh jack stands which are not included in the recall since they are marked with a different product number.

I actually own a lot of tools from Harbor Freight and have had good luck with almost all of them. The company was part of a lawsuit in 2017 due to the way they advertised product prices and compared them to fake prices.