Harbor Freight 3 Ton Floor Jack Failure WARNING!!

Discussion in 'Tool & Shop Talk' started by rotorr22, Dec 22, 2014.

  1. rotorr22

    rotorr22 Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2008
    Messages:
    1,302
    Likes Received:
    259
    Trophy Points:
    211
    Location:
    Columbiana, Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2018 F150 XLT/5.0, 2014 Focus 5 spd manual,1974 Maverick Grabber, 1986 Thunderbird Elan 5.0/AOD
    About a year ago, I purchased a 3 ton roll around floor jack for my shop to replace a 30 year old Sears jack that experienced a broken casting cam. While working under my Taurus yesterday, I heard a squeal from the hydraulic cylinder and the car started to drop. Fortunately, I had placed a jackstand under the frame as a safety precaution or the car would have come down on my chest. I twisted the handle to ensure I had the valve closed and it was. I tried to pump it up again, but as soon as I stopped pumping, the jack began to fall again. This jack was used maybe ten times in one year.

    I've purchased a lot of tools at HF for instances where I have a one time or infrequent use for such, but I will never buy another item from them that could prove fatal if it malfunctioned. My last experience with Harbor was with a vibrating sander that fell apart while sanding drywall. It lasted 15 minutes!
     
  2. maverick75

    maverick75 Gotta Love Mavs!

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2005
    Messages:
    9,014
    Likes Received:
    14
    Trophy Points:
    172
    Location:
    Riverside, California
    Vehicle:
    The mav is gone but i'm still here!
    I've never used floor jack for longer than to get it on stands.
     
    blugene likes this.
  3. maverick75

    maverick75 Gotta Love Mavs!

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2005
    Messages:
    9,014
    Likes Received:
    14
    Trophy Points:
    172
    Location:
    Riverside, California
    Vehicle:
    The mav is gone but i'm still here!
    I've never used floor jack for longer than to get it on stands.
     
    Russell and SlotlessMan like this.
  4. Ronald Hopkins

    Ronald Hopkins Member Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2002
    Messages:
    716
    Likes Received:
    63
    Trophy Points:
    116
    Location:
    Morristown Tennessee
    Vehicle:
    1972 Comet GT
    Never depend on any floor jack. Always use jack stands.
     
  5. mojo

    mojo "Everett"- Senior Citizen Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2009
    Messages:
    5,250
    Likes Received:
    818
    Trophy Points:
    498
    Garage:
    1
    Location:
    Chicago
    Vehicle:
    73 Comet GT-302 4bl
    I always use stands and leave the jack under the car too, if possible. I put abt 90% of the weight on the stands and rest on the jack if I can leave the jack somewhere under the car. Can't be to safe under a car; one incident can cause serious injury, or most likely send u to the morgue.
     
    blugene likes this.
  6. rthomas771

    rthomas771 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2008
    Messages:
    8,010
    Likes Received:
    913
    Trophy Points:
    498
    Garage:
    1
    Location:
    GA
    Vehicle:
    '74 Maverick 250 5-Speed.'60 Falcon V8. '63.5 Falcon HT
    I'm glad that you're able to tell us about your mishap instead of reading about in in the obituaries.
     
  7. Mel Moeller

    Mel Moeller Maverick Moe

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2014
    Messages:
    714
    Likes Received:
    69
    Trophy Points:
    86
    Location:
    Twin Falls Idaho
    Vehicle:
    1971 Ford Maverick, Two 1973 Mavericks, 1974 Mercury Comet
    I am even worried about some jack stands. Because of this I found twenty two 10" x 10" wood blocks on Craigslist for sale. I bought them all and use four of them per side for holding my car in the air. I used to use cinder blocks but those are not safe either if the mortar in the block cracked out. My wife being from the Philippines was always very worried about me using cinder blocks since she had seen these fail. I also always leave the jack holding about 10% of the weight even with the wood blocks.
     
  8. rotorr22

    rotorr22 Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2008
    Messages:
    1,302
    Likes Received:
    259
    Trophy Points:
    211
    Location:
    Columbiana, Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2018 F150 XLT/5.0, 2014 Focus 5 spd manual,1974 Maverick Grabber, 1986 Thunderbird Elan 5.0/AOD
    Me too! I just slid under there for a minute to check the security of the exhaust heat shield. I had the presence of mind to put one of my HD jack stands close to the jack, but had to crawl out and pump the jack an additional stroke to get better access and the stand became unloaded. When the jack failed, the car only came down a small amount until the stand caught it, but it scared the !@#$ out of me.
     
  9. 71gold

    71gold Frank Cooper Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2002
    Messages:
    26,456
    Likes Received:
    2,835
    Trophy Points:
    978
    Garage:
    1
    Location:
    MACON,GA.
    Vehicle:
    '73 Grabber
    and you would trust a...floor jack...:huh:
     
  10. rotorr22

    rotorr22 Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2008
    Messages:
    1,302
    Likes Received:
    259
    Trophy Points:
    211
    Location:
    Columbiana, Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2018 F150 XLT/5.0, 2014 Focus 5 spd manual,1974 Maverick Grabber, 1986 Thunderbird Elan 5.0/AOD
    Point taken......
     
  11. Rasit

    Rasit Member

    Joined:
    May 21, 2013
    Messages:
    411
    Likes Received:
    84
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    SE Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    1971 Comet GT
  12. bmcdaniel

    bmcdaniel Senile Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2002
    Messages:
    6,739
    Likes Received:
    634
    Trophy Points:
    318
    Location:
    York. PA
    Vehicle:
    '70 Maverick Grabber
    Before you used the jack the first time did you bleed the air out of the cylinder? Many don't and it causes problems later on.
    Jackstands - many years ago I had a cheap pair that were made out of folded sheet metal that was spot welded, had u-shaped sheet metal saddles welded to the tubes. Real pieces of junk but I didn't know any better. I had them holding up the front of my mother's Chrysler K car while I replaced the steering rack, wheels were off. I had to get out from under the car to get a tool I left on the work bench which was about 6 feet away. I just got to the bench and the car came crashing to the floor! One of the cheesy u-shaped saddles bent and broke a weld causing the jack stand to kick out. 10 seconds sooner and I would have been dead. I went right out and found some of the biggest heavy duty stands I could find, cost no object.
     
  13. Mel Moeller

    Mel Moeller Maverick Moe

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2014
    Messages:
    714
    Likes Received:
    69
    Trophy Points:
    86
    Location:
    Twin Falls Idaho
    Vehicle:
    1971 Ford Maverick, Two 1973 Mavericks, 1974 Mercury Comet
    Wow, Lesson learned here for many I would guess.
     
  14. rotorr22

    rotorr22 Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2008
    Messages:
    1,302
    Likes Received:
    259
    Trophy Points:
    211
    Location:
    Columbiana, Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2018 F150 XLT/5.0, 2014 Focus 5 spd manual,1974 Maverick Grabber, 1986 Thunderbird Elan 5.0/AOD
    No. Mine is yellow and black and does not have the "rapid pump" feature. I thought about repairing it, but my confidence in it is now zero.

    Summit has some jacks out on the showroom floor in Akron. I may go over there after Christmas, as I have a $20 coupon that I have to use before the 28th.
     
  15. rthomas771

    rthomas771 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2008
    Messages:
    8,010
    Likes Received:
    913
    Trophy Points:
    498
    Garage:
    1
    Location:
    GA
    Vehicle:
    '74 Maverick 250 5-Speed.'60 Falcon V8. '63.5 Falcon HT
    Do you trust Harbor Freight tools? I bought one of their magnets on the end of telescopic sticks (car antenna) and it broke taking it out of the package.
     

Share This Page