How to Use Jack Stands: The Procedure from OSHA, ASME PASE and the Makers

The rules, from the sources

Rule	Source, as stated
The rated load is marked on the jack and must not be exceeded	OSHA 1910.244(a)(1)(ii): the rated load shall be legibly and permanently marked in a prominent location on the jack
Block the base on anything but a firm foundation; block between the cap and the load if the cap may slip	OSHA 1910.244(a)(2)(i)
Secure the load at once after raising it	OSHA 1910.244(a)(2)(iii): cribbed, blocked, or otherwise secured at once
Inspect jacks on a schedule: every 6 months in regular use, before and after any abnormal load or shock	OSHA 1910.244(a)(2)(vi)
Jacks, stands, ramps and mobile lifts: design, construction, marking, operation, maintenance and owner inspection	ASME PASE-2019 (scope, per ASME and ANSI's summaries); the 2024 update revised the scope and added requirements for automotive stands (Intertek's update notice)
Older stands and jacks may be labelled to the predecessor ANSI/PALD standard	Retailers' descriptions of Pro-Lift's T-6906D ("meets or exceeds ANSI/PALD"); PASE replaced PALD

The procedure

As the manuals and OSHA's rule sequence it; read your jack's and stands' own manuals first, because their lift points, limits and lock types govern.

Step	What	Why, and who says
1. Ground	Level, hard, concrete; not asphalt in heat, not gravel, not a slope	OSHA: block the base in the absence of a firm foundation; a stand's base is small and a soft surface lets it tilt
2. Park	Parking brake on, in park or in gear, wheels chocked on the end staying down	Makers' manuals; the car must not roll off the jack while it is on one point
3. Lift point	The point the vehicle maker names in the owner's manual (pinch weld with an adapter, subframe, differential where the maker allows), never the floor pan, oil pan or suspension arm	Vehicle makers' manuals; ALI's Lifting Points guide for lifts covers the same points
4. Jack	Jack rated above the corner's share of the vehicle, saddle square on the point, pumped until the stand fits under with room to set	OSHA: rated load marked; never exceed it
5. Stand	Stand rated for the load, placed on a structural point beside the jack (frame rail, subframe, the maker's stand point), set to height, the pawl fully seated in a ratchet tooth, the pin locked on double-pin stands	Makers' manuals; the 2020 recall was a pawl that did not seat deep enough
6. Lower onto the stand	Lower the jack slowly until the stand carries the load, watching the stand stay vertical; leave the jack in light contact as a backup if its maker allows	OSHA: secured at once; the stand holds, the jack lifts
7. Shake test	Push the car at the lifted corner; if anything moves, lift and reset	Makers' manuals
8. Pairs	Lift the other side the same way; a car on two stands sits level on points of the same height	Makers' manuals: stands in pairs
9. Under the car	Only when the car is on stands and has passed the shake test; never on a jack alone, never on a bumper jack or a scissor jack from the trunk	OSHA; every maker's manual
10. Down	Jack the corner just off the stand, remove the stand, lower slowly; other side the same	Makers' manuals

Ratings

A jack's rating (3 tons, 6,000 pounds) is the whole jack's limit; a stand's rating is usually per pair in the makers' listings (Pro-Lift's T-6906D is 6 tons per pair by its spec table), so read whether a listing's figure is per stand or per pair. A corner of a 4,500-pound SUV is about a quarter of it with the car level and more when one end is lifted, which is why 3-ton stands are the floor for a car and 6-ton for a truck, and why the rating is not the place to economise. The Pro-Lift T-6906D's spec table gives a 16 to 23.5-inch range and a 10.5 by 8.875-inch base; low cars need a stand whose minimum height fits under the point, and tall trucks need the top of the range.

The 2020 recall

NHTSA's consumer advisory of May 28, 2020: Harbor Freight Tools recalled more than 1.7 million Pittsburgh Automotive 3-ton and 6-ton steel jack stands that may collapse under load, in two recalls, 20E016 (about 454,000 units made June 13, 2013 to November 22, 2019) and 20E027 (about 1,254,000 units made December 1, 2012 to March 31, 2020), item numbers 61196 and 56371 (3-ton) and 61197 (6-ton); the original manufacturer attributed the defect to the aging of production tooling; injuries were reported; owners were told to stop using them at once and were offered full refunds. The mechanism, as reported at the time, was ratchet teeth that did not engage the pawl deeply enough, so the stand could drop under load. Two things follow for every stand: the pawl must seat fully in a tooth every time (look, and listen for it), and a stand that has ever slipped is scrap. If you own Pittsburgh stands, check the item number on the label against the advisory. The recall checker searches all eleven jack stand recalls since 1990, including SKU 56373, the replacement 3-ton stand Harbor Freight recalled in July 2020.

Stands and the things sold instead of them

Ramps hold a car by its tires and are the ASME standard's other category; they work for oil changes and nothing that needs the wheels off. All-in-one bottle-jack-and-stand products (the 3-ton units in our guides) combine the lift and the hold in one column with a mechanical lock; they are a jack and a stand in one body and the maker's manual says how the lock is set before the hydraulic is released. A floor jack with a "safety lock" is still a jack. A QuickJack or scissor lift has mechanical locks the manual tells you to lower onto before going under, which is the same rule by another name.

Inspection

OSHA's schedule for jacks: every 6 months in constant or intermittent use at one place, and immediately before and after any abnormal load or shock. For stands the makers' manuals say to inspect before each use: cracks, bent legs, a pawl that does not spring back, a pin that does not pass, rust in the ratchet. A stand that has been dropped from a truck, run over or overloaded goes in the bin; it is $40 and the alternative is on the NHTSA page.

What this page is not

A substitute for your vehicle's and your jack's manuals, which name the lift points and limits, or a workplace program, which OSHA's rule assumes. It is the procedure every source we read agrees on, in one place, for a home garage.