I believe the roll pin is supposed to break in case the arm is accidently forcefully lifted with the jack stand under pressure. Then the pawl (and stand) stays in place.
Jack Stand Catastrophic failure
- Thread starter gonefishin
- Start date
^ Yes, the pin only needs to be strong enough to lift the pawl with no load on it and anything more than that, decreases the amount of force needed to countermine this safety aspect to allow it to shear if the jack stand lever were knocked.
It really doesn't have any impact on jack stand safety if everything else is good. A substantially loaded jack stand, takes more than a bump on the lever to disengage the pawl. It's practically universally the problem that the pawl didn't engage well on these defective stands, or of course some other one-off problem with a manufacturing defect which is sadly so so, SO common with Harbor Freight products which I never trust if a failure risks harm in any way, whether mechanical or electrical. Granted I mean their budget line brands, a few of their premium brands seem to have more QC.
It really doesn't have any impact on jack stand safety if everything else is good. A substantially loaded jack stand, takes more than a bump on the lever to disengage the pawl. It's practically universally the problem that the pawl didn't engage well on these defective stands, or of course some other one-off problem with a manufacturing defect which is sadly so so, SO common with Harbor Freight products which I never trust if a failure risks harm in any way, whether mechanical or electrical. Granted I mean their budget line brands, a few of their premium brands seem to have more QC.
JHZR2
Staff member
I got a set of esco stands because the interchangeable connection, I have a custom set for the BMW jack points.
The regular round tops can sit on a boxed section of unibody or on a pinch weld. I prefer a boxed section because I don’t like a rounded edge contacting a thin metal pinch weld. Each setup may differ. Some pinch spots are beefed up.
The esco stands I have do also have the custom post for the bmw square jack pad. It is a locking ball, that can have other adapters. There is a round flat pad that fits on the post, which then will tilt with the car’s jacking angle. That is much preferred to me, because it allows the stand pad to tilt and not cut or press into the vehicle.
I don’t see the original post mentioning that activity. I see the pin as a way to assemble the stands quickly. Otherwise they would have to weld the sides together over the pawl and rod, if the pawl was welded to the release rod.
I use a couple old cinder blocks I found in my basement and or my old fire pit, a steel f-350 steel wheel for double safety
Cinder blocks are almost worse than nothing, I've heard of people getting killed by them disintegrating under load!
And then you'd have to weld it after assembly...
The roll pins are too strong to shear easily. It would take more force than a human can accidentally put on the handle. You're just as likely to tip the stand over with a vehicle on it as it takes several hundreds of pounds.
The OP had a defective or too short roll pin in his stand IMO.
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
Found a solid piece of 10x10 pine at the coast (stilt ?) … next time I pull out the chop saw will cut some oak caps
Dang man!! that could have been bad, glad you weren't hurt.
This makes me want to throw out both sets of stands I have now and buy new ones.
Exactly. That's what I am doing.
I have been using 4x stands like the OP posted for 10+ years now. Never had an issue but might look into something else now. Really want to get some ramps but they all seem to have bad reviews now.
