My brother-in-law is a mechanic and he literally hates the current "latched" design of commonly available jackstands which have the "notched locking mechanism" versus the older ones with a sliding pin that locked the stands via a couple of sets of holes. He said he's seen plenty of situations where users have accidentally hit the lever and they've collapsed!!
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" />!



Any of you guys who work in an auto shop (not just your own vehicle) seen this happen?

NEVER!
As I teach this subject, and safety comes first in my shop, I can say that I am "considered" by most, to be an expert in this subject. This is the only type of stand that I use, and allow in my shop.
Point #1: The stand cannot release if there is a load on it...Period. To release the moveable part you must lift it up, or raise it with the lever.
Point #2: All lifts made in the last 12-15 years uses the same design to support the lift arms and mine are rated for 9,000lbs. I put my life in the hands of this design EVERY day.
This "IS" the Industry standard.
Kary

Fact: it is possible to improperly set the load by having the lever out-of-place when the load is set.

Ray, I've been looking for the "old type" to little avail. My local body shop guy told me I might be able to get them through a specialty automotive catalogue, but he said he paid nearly $75/ea for them. Economy is not worth your safety, but there's little choice out there on the racks. I've been using the lever-locking jackstands, but always get concerned about accidentally knocking the lever with my foot when I'm under the truck. For that reason alone, I throw a wheel or two under the truck.

If one is not competent,or comfortable, to safely and properly use safety equipment, you need to get better training.
I don't mean to sound rude, the fact is there are so many people that don't have the knowledge to use safety equipment properly. That causes accidents as much as not having the equipment at all!
The 7 p's comes to mind here!
Prior
Proper
Planning
Prevents
Piss
Poor
Performance <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Danny

When did I or anyone else indicate that they were not competent or comfortable to safely and properly use equipment? I'm just pointing out a potential danger. And yeah, your condescention does sound kinda rude. Why post that way? It's a downer. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Sometimes all the training in the world won't prevent an accident. Even trained people make mistakes, and in fact, I've found that trained people tend to make more careless mistakes because they become complacent. In my way of seeing it, the old style jackstands were less accident prone than the new style. But I could be wrong.

Please point me to the nearest jackstand class so I can brush up on my skills. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

Sorry for the digression.

I bought the above lever type jack stands because they are much more substantially built than the pin type jack stands I bought from Sears..

And as said earlier, there's no way you can release the lever with a load on them... unless umm, you got one of those "S"s on your chest and hate kryptonite.. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" />

I was afraid my pin type stands would eventually fail due to the thin metal used in them...

The point I was driving at is that anything that can fail will! It is up to the operator to make the final call as to the safety needs that are at hand and to ensure proper use of the equipment. The fact that one is attempting to do a service that is potentially dangerous calls for an assumed risk.
Any safety equipment is only as good as the operator. If you need a jackstand class, maybe you can find one in the yellow pages <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
I have seen people do all types of wrong methods, me included. It takes a rather abrupt knock in the head to get my attention. It has happened and that is why I strive to pay more attention to how I am setting up to work on anything. Haste makes waste. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />
If you feel my post was condescending to you, I apologize, it was not meant that way.
I feel safety is a serious issue and that the more prepared someone is, the better.
True, the pro's can get a little complacent. It can cost a lot for that complacency.
Danny

Just to be fair, even the pin type can fail. They are made of much lighter material, and if someone doesn't put the pin in all the way (user error, just like not latching the levers all the way) then the stress is not applied evenly across both sets of holes.

I had a friend who did just that - he couldn't get the pin all the way through so he thought it was good enough with just one side. It wasn't, and the jackstand ripped open at the hole letting the load drop. (Lucky for him, he was putting the jack under the other side of the car at the time so there was only his ego hurt.)

My point is, anything can be used wrong. If used correctly, I'd agree that the lever type is much stronger.

Why use jack stands? I thought that was what bumper jacks were for. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drunk.gif" alt="" />

I have the locking lever type that I got at Wally World. They will hold my TJ with no problem. The only problem I have had with them is when I pick them up by the release handle and they come apart. The roll pins provided with them to keep this from hapening are not the greatest in the world, but as far as holding the load, no problems.

Not going to argue the opinion that they can't fail but I will tell you fact as noted by my brother in law who has over a decade of professional wrenching under his belt.

He's seen them fail. Whether due to operator error or mechanical failure he didn't say but he did say that he'd never use them.

Against his better judgement and since I already have a pair, I'll go ahead and use them, but I'll sure be careful that they are seated properly.