Jack Stand Safety Opinions -Harbor Freight

[Elvis 3.0]

Ok. So looking on opinions for purchasing 3 ton aluminum jack stands from Harbor Freight. Some of the reviews love them because of how light they are and they are (9lbs for the pair v. 17 lbs for steel) one uniform piece as opposed to welded for the steel. Some reviewer on the steel was worried that one appeared to be in a stage of buckling after short use.

I would be using this for basic oil changes. Any opinions or heads up on
1) general safety 2) reliability of using cheap Harbor Freight tools ( my experience has been both good and bad depending on what you are buying) 3) utilizing a pair of 3 ton total rating stands v. 6 ton or even 12 ton....

just checking if I am going to regret not forking over some more $$ by cheaping on HFreight and looking for any safety recommendations.

thanks

[theblue]

my opinion is get the cheapest the has the load rating you need and keep the jack under the car and snug but not load bearing as a backup.

[70-k5]

I have multiple sets of HF jack stands, both 3 and 6 ton varieties. I have no concerns with the 3-ton stands supporting an X5. curb weight is a little over 6,000 lbs? That means that perfectly balanced one 3-ton stand should be able to support the whole vehicle. If you're using a pair they are operating at half their load rating. Use them to support the front of the vehicle and they're only at less than 33% of their load rating.

HF makes some cheap stuff. But Jack stands are a different beast, they have to be quality, if their stands started bending with half the rated load there would be some serious lawsuits. I would bet that the mouth breather who bent his stands was using them incorrectly and shifting the weight of the vehicle around while on the stand, moving the center of the stand and bending the adjustable arm, not the structure of the stand itself.

[TiAgX5]

I've been using the 3 ton aluminium stands for years, no issues. Also have 4 rhino ramps, use these much more.

[SlickGT1]

Get two sets of rhino ramps. Autozone carries the ones that can stack into each other. Saves space. If you don't have space for ramps, then jackstands it is.

[Ricky Bobby]

Rhino ramps are a must, get 2 sets and you can drive up on them and have your own lift with the wheels on the ground lol!

If you need to take wheels off though I have 3 ton Big Red jackstands from Advance Auto and 3 ton HF jack stands from harbor freight, to be honest they both work as well as the other. And always keep a jack at support just in case of failure!

[tmv]

Plastic ramp scares me. I built wood ramps. Also have (4) HF 3-ton jack stands when needed.

[SlickGT1]

Originally Posted by tmv

Plastic ramp scares me. I built wood ramps. Also have (4) HF 3-ton jack stands when needed.

Really? I was scared before. But then looked them up. They are 12000lb rated. That is like double our cars, if you pack it full of shit.

I like them, they are light enough to toss around, and stack into each other. Only thing I think they are missing is a tongue. So that when you are approaching them slowly, your wheels should be on the tongue, this way it would hold the ramps in place, and not slide. But I really don't have that issue usually.

[Elvis 3.0]

I used plastic ramps for my wife's mini in the past. But I can't seem to get my head around the engineering of the strength of that plastic either. I know I know- there is no way that they would be sold en masse with the liability unless they were 100% proven.

But still have a hard time. Old school thinking.



By the way - thanks for all of the replies. All very good info, insight, and perspective. (especially the mouth breather comment)

[epdarks]

I use 4x HF 6 ton stands.

Once I get it high enough then I put wood blocks under all 4 wheels.

Why go cheap on safety? Get the 6-tons....