Harbor Freight Transmission Jack Failure Lawsuit Filed Over Crushing Hand, Arm Injuries

Lawsuit alleges the inadequate design of a transmission jack caused it to suddenly collapse, resulting in severe, life-altering injuries.

A Texas man has filed a product liability lawsuit after he allegedly suffered debilitating injuries when a 2,000-pound rated Harbor Freight jack supporting a transmission of only 600 pounds failed.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Danny Baker in the Los Angeles County Superior Court of California on February 13, naming Harbor Freight Tools USA Inc. and Harbor Freight Tools Texas L.P. as defendants. The case was removed to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on August 25.

Baker claims the transmission jack catastrophically failed during its first use while supporting a transmission that weighed significantly less than the rated capacity. He also indicates Harbor Freight should have known of the product defect, yet put consumers at risk anyway.

Harbor Freight Jack Injuries

A transmission jack is a kind of hydraulic or pneumatic tool used to lift, support and maneuver a vehicle’s transmission during repair, removal and installation. It is designed to hold heavy equipment weighing thousands of pounds.

However, if any critical component of the tool fails, consumers may suffer catastrophic injuries. Similar safety concerns have been raised in recent years involving allegedly defective Harbor Freight automotive jacks and jack stands.

In April, a lawsuit was filed alleging an Oklahoma man was pinned underneath a vehicle and suffered severe injuries after a Harbor Freight jack stand failed and collapsed. He claimed the product lacked adequate safety features to protect users.

Transmission Jack Failure Allegations

According to the complaint, Baker purchased a 2,000-Pound Capacity Low-Profile Transmission Jack from Harbor Freight on November 20, 2023. Approximately three months later, he used the jack for the first time when it failed.

The lawsuit alleges the jack plate unexpectedly collapsed forward during use, causing the bell housing of the transmission to drop swiftly and uncontrollably. The transmission crushed Baker’s hand and arm to the floor, causing life-altering injuries when he suffered a nearly severed thumb, fractured left wrist, lacerated left hand, damaged blood vessels in his arm and fractured left foot.

Baker indicates the transmission he was working on weighed approximately 540 to 610 pounds, well below the 2,000-pound weight limit the transmission jack was rated for.

Harbor Freight allegedly advertised the jack as complying with ASME-PASE industry standards to meet safety and engineering requirements. However, the lawsuit argues the jack was defectively designed, and the company knew or should have known of the dangers through testing, prior incidents and other consumer complaints.

The lawsuit claims that the jack suffers from a number of design failures which made the product dangerous, including lack of back-to-back nuts or double castellated nuts on the screw rod, a non-permanent welded stop nut, increased limit on the forward tilt and many other additional design failures. It goes on to state that a safer design would have eliminated the defects.

Baker alleges Harbor Freight failed to warn consumers of the danger and failed to remove the defective jack from the market. As a result, he says that he suffered serious injuries and now has limited mobility.

“A reasonable manufacturer, distributer, and/or seller under the same or similar circumstances would have warned of these dangers and/or instructed on the safe use of the Subject Jack. As a result of Defendants’ negligence and negligent failure to warn, Defendants caused Plaintiff Danny Baker to suffer Plaintiff’s Injuries. Defendants’ negligence was a substantial factor in causing Plaintiff’s Injuries.”

— Danny Baker v. Harbor Freight Tools USA Inc. et al.

The complaint raises allegations of negligence, strict liability, design defect, manufacturing defect, marketing defect/failure to warn and breach of implied warranty of merchantability and fitness for particular purpose. It seeks compensation for past and future medical expenses, severe pain and suffering, disfigurement, emotional distress and lost earnings.

Sign up for more legal news that could affect you or your family.