On 10/21/2015 1:08 AM, Micky wrote:
On Tue, 20 Oct 2015 09:36:00 -0700, Don Y
wrote:

Hmmmm... I will have to note that. The guy who gave me the jack stands also
gave me a (tiny) floor jack (not a bottle jack). As with most HF things,
I'm not keen on putting my body *under* something that it must support!

20 yeas ago I bought jack stands from Western Auto. 4 or 5 years
later, a friend was using them to work on his car and one of them
partially collapsed. He wasn't under it though. Just the Plymouth
ewquivalent of a LeBaron, nothing heavy.

when I took it back, I didnt' want to spring for the next higher
price, so I took another pair just like the ones I had. So far they
haven't broken but when I worked on my car the last time, I used 4
jack stands and two jacks at the same time. I was still scared.

The problem with things like jack stands is they *seem* to fit the
criteria of "simple, no moving parts" -- sort of like autobody tools,
anvils, etc.: "Can't *possibly* be anything 'wrong' with something
as simple as this!"

But, few folks can look at a casting and determine if the metal is
brittle, porous, etc. I.e., will it actually support the expected
load or will it fail. How thick does that thing REALLY need to be to
meet it's stated characteristics?