Broken gas tank strap

I

IL_Fletch

New member
I noticed yesterday that my rear gas tank strap is almost completely rusted through on the driver's side. My skid plate is still solid with only surface rust.

Will the skid plate hold the gas tank in place or will there be play?

Is the strap only there to prevent the tank from dropping when the skid plate is removed?

Has anyone replaced this without removing the skid plate? I think my bolts may be too rusty to attempt removal, and I don't want to have to replace the whole skid!

Thanks!
 
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IL_Fletch said:
I noticed yesterday that my rear gas tank strap is almost completely rusted through on the driver's side. My skid plate is still solid with only surface rust.

Will the skid plate hold the gas tank in place or will there be play?

Is the strap only there to prevent the tank from dropping when the skid plate is removed?

Has anyone replaced this without removing the skid plate? I think my bolts may be too rusty to attempt removal, and I don't want to have to replace the whole skid!

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I don't know for sure but I am going to find out very soon as my strap is busted. The tank won't fall but you should get it replaced. :roadkill:
 
There's 2 straps, so it shouldn't fall out, but I wouldn't trust the other one not to break on you if the first one rusted through.

I assume you're talking about the factory skid plate on the gas tank? I wouldn't trust it to hold a full tank of fuel, but it'd probably work okay with one strap... hard to say.

Bottom line, I'd get 2 new fuel tank straps and you're probably going to need bolts as if they're rusty enough to break the hardware is probably junk and the bolts rusted into the frame.
 
IL_Fletch said:
I noticed yesterday that my rear gas tank strap is almost completely rusted through on the driver's side. My skid plate is still solid with only surface rust.

Will the skid plate hold the gas tank in place or will there be play?

Is the strap only there to prevent the tank from dropping when the skid plate is removed?

Has anyone replaced this without removing the skid plate? I think my bolts may be too rusty to attempt removal, and I don't want to have to replace the whole skid!

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If just the rear strap breaks, it won't fall off. The tank shield should hold it for a while, but I wouldn't count on the tank shield for too long. The mounting points for the tank skid may also be going bad, and they could fail.

I had this happen to my '03 last year, and in my case the front strap failed first. I only noticed it because the tank fell far enough to hit the rear driveshaft, and the noise alerted me. I had to use a couple of ratchet straps for a temp fix, so I could get home. I eventually found a wrecking yard in So Cal that had a complete set of good straps and tank shield, so I replaced all three. PITA, but that's North East winters toll on our vehicles.
 
BlackWorksInc said:
Bottom line, I'd get 2 new fuel tank straps and you're probably going to need bolts as if they're rusty enough to break the hardware is probably junk and the bolts rusted into the frame.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I'm going to do.

I'll PB Blast all the skid hardware a couple of times over the next few weeks and hope I can get the bolts out without breaking the heads off. If they break, I guess I'll just leave the skid off for now. I think Tundras don't even have skids, so shouldn't matter much for my daily commute.

If I ever head to Moab, I'll buy some aluminum skids... Or a 5th gen 4runner.

Thanks guys!
 
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