Safety warning

[CrackThump]

Roofarmer. I take your point on cheap'n'crappy . but as bladeracer said, as long as the basic design is good theres no problem.

I have 2 pair in the shed. heavy duty ratchet type that were about $90 and a lighter steel tube and pin type that were about $45 on spesh lol. obviously the HD ratchet stands are rated higher, but both are good IMO.

[Die Judicii]

This actually raises an interesting scenario,,,,,

The bought ones (cheap) certainly do look crappy and "cheap", but being mass produced and sold by these stores surely they must be rated ?

And if the worst happened and they collapsed under a normal vehicle causing death or injury where would the selling store stand ?

Or would it be a case of "the party with the deepest pockets and smartest lawyers" wins out at the end of the day regardless ?

[Roo farmer]

This actually raises an interesting scenario,,,,,

The bought ones (cheap) certainly do look crappy and "cheap", but being mass produced and sold by these stores surely they must be rated ?

And if the worst happened and they collapsed under a normal vehicle causing death or injury where would the selling store stand ?

Or would it be a case of "the party with the deepest pockets and smartest lawyers" wins out at the end of the day regardless ?

They're even cheaper on Ebay. From all sorts of sellers. None of which will be likely to still be in existence when you have a problem.

Of course, price is not necessarily an indicator, you could pay more and get the same flimsy looking things.

I've not progressed any further than blocks of wood and solid ground.

[CrackThump]

stop me if Im wrong, but wouldnt they be subject to Australian Safety Standards. ? (like everything else in this nanny state we live in. ? (the store bough stuff, not the unregulated ebay sh!t)

[bigfellascott]

Lucky man there mate, I had a ute parked on my chest a few yrs back, no damage done but was a weird feeling alright. scariest part was waiting for the driver to get it off me again, hoping she didn't panic and gun it!

[mickb]

This is one of the few times being unmechanically minded comes in handy. There is no good I can do under a car, I let someone smarter do that. Good post though BLR, everyone makes mistakes and has close calls. Like the threads on accidental discharge of firearms- always worth seeing them everyone now and then as a reminder

[Oldbloke]

stop me if Im wrong, but wouldnt they be subject to Australian Safety Standards. ? (like everything else in this nanny state we live in. ? (the store bough stuff, not the unregulated ebay sh!t)

I think it unlikely there would be an AS for car stands. My guess is that the usual "duty of care" would apply.
In this case the usual 2.5 times rule would apply. That is if most cars weigh 2 tonnes then the stands would need to withstand 5 tonnes.
This rule is often applied to lifting equipment such as crane slings.

Usually they are designed and calculated by a mechanical engineer. The onus is usually applied to the seller/outlet.

Please note the above is only a general rule of thumb and may not be correct in this specific case.