Refreshing Our Old Harbor Freight Jack Stands -- A Family Shop Project at Core 4x4

Spence and his daughters tear down, sandblast, powder coat, and reassemble four beat-up Harbor Freight jack stands -- plus add casters so they roll around the studio.

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Sometimes the best shop projects are the simple ones. In this video, Spence brings his daughters into the Core 4x4 studio to tackle a project that has been on the list for a while — refreshing four old Harbor Freight jack stands that were covered in overspray, had loose bolts, and were a pain to move around the shop.

The plan was straightforward: tear them down, sandblast and powder coat everything, replace the hardware, and add locking casters to the feet so they roll instead of needing to be carried. The girls had been asking to be in a YouTube video for a while, and this was the perfect project to teach them a few things along the way.

Spence from Core 4x4 in the studio with hexagon lights overhead and orange Jeep in the background, introducing the jack stand refresh project

Why Refresh Old Jack Stands?

If you have been in a shop for any length of time, your jack stands have taken a beating. These Harbor Freight stands had layers of overspray from various projects, loose hardware, and no easy way to move them around. Carrying a heavy jack stand across a shop floor every time you need to reposition it gets old fast.

Rather than buy new ones, Spence decided to give these a full refresh:

Strip everything down — remove all bolts, pins, and adjustment teeth
Sandblast — take off all the old paint, overspray, and surface rust
Powder coat — Core 4x4 black and orange, naturally
New hardware — fresh nuts and bolts throughout
Add casters — drill the feet and install locking wheels so they roll

The result is a set of jack stands that look brand new, work better, and are far easier to move around the studio.

Close-up of old Harbor Freight jack stand covered in overspray and worn paint, with daughter using a wrench to disassemble it in the Core 4x4 shop

Disassembly: Teaching the Girls to Use a Wrench

Spence’s daughters had the day off school, so they came to work. Their job was to tear down all four jack stands — removing every bolt by hand. For Spence, this was as much about teaching his girls how to work as it was about the jack stands themselves.

As Spence puts it, the best thing his dad did growing up was tell him to figure it out. So he handed the girls a wrench and let them go. The first stand took some coaching, but they got through all four and had a pile of parts ready for the next step.

Disassembled Harbor Freight jack stand being held up in the Core 4x4 shop with Milwaukee tool visible, ready for sandblasting

Sandblasting and Powder Coating

Once the stands were fully disassembled, the parts went to the sandblaster to strip all the old paint and overspray. After blasting, everything got a fresh coat of powder coat in Core 4x4’s black and orange colors.

Powder coating is far more durable than rattle-can paint. It resists chips, scratches, and the general abuse that shop equipment takes on a daily basis. If you are refreshing jack stands or any other shop gear, powder coating is worth the extra step over spray paint.

Spence with his two daughters wearing Core 4x4 shirts in the shop after getting the sandblasted and powder coated parts back

Reassembly: Figure It Out

After spring break, the girls came back to put everything together. Spence assembled one stand as an example, then handed the rest over to his daughters with a simple instruction: figure it out.

The first reassembly took about three hours. The second took less than an hour. Practice makes a difference, and by the third stand the girls had the process down. There was some sisterly disagreement along the way — that is just part of working together — but the stands came together.

Spence smiling and talking with his daughters in the Core 4x4 shop during the jack stand reassembly project

Both daughters assembling a freshly powder-coated orange and black jack stand in the Core 4x4 shop while Spence supervises

Adding Casters to Jack Stands

The upgrade that made the biggest practical difference was adding locking casters to the jack stand feet. Spence drilled holes in the base plates and bolted on locking swivel wheels. Three of the four stands got casters (they ran out), but even having most of them on wheels made a huge improvement.

If you use jack stands in a shop, adding casters is a simple mod that saves your back. Roll the stand into position, lock the wheels, and you are set. No more picking up and carrying heavy stands across the floor every time you need to reposition.

The Finished Product

The four refreshed jack stands came out looking like new — Core 4x4 black and orange, fresh hardware, and locking casters. They match the rest of the shop equipment and are finally easy to move around the studio.

Spence in the Core 4x4 studio with finished black powder-coated jack stands visible behind him alongside the orange Jeep

What is Next in the Studio

Spence mentioned that the next projects in the studio include a Ford build and an LJ Jeep getting the Core 4x4 short arm kit installed. Stay tuned for those full install videos. In the meantime, if you are looking for grease for your jack stand pins and pivots, Core 4x4’s Johnny Joint grease works well for shop equipment too.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Disassemble the jack stand completely, sandblast the parts to remove old paint and overspray, then powder coat them. Powder coating is more durable than spray paint and holds up better to the daily abuse shop equipment takes. The Core 4x4 team powder coated their stands in black and orange and they came out looking brand new.

Drill holes in the base plate of the jack stand and bolt on locking swivel casters. Use locking casters so the stand stays put when loaded. This simple modification lets you roll heavy jack stands around the shop instead of carrying them, which saves time and effort during long projects.

If the structural steel is sound, refurbishing is a great option. Sandblasting, powder coating, and replacing hardware with fresh nuts and bolts gives you jack stands that perform like new at a fraction of the cost. It is also a good opportunity to add modifications like casters that new stands do not come with.

A quality multi-purpose grease works well for jack stand pins and adjustment teeth. Core 4x4 uses their Johnny Joint grease on shop equipment because it is designed for heavy pivot points and holds up under load. Any lithium-based or moly grease will keep the adjustment mechanism operating smoothly.

Sandblasting is the fastest and most thorough method. It strips all old paint, overspray, and surface rust down to bare metal in one step. If you do not have access to a sandblaster, a wire wheel on an angle grinder or chemical paint stripper will also work, though both take more time and effort.