Fuel tank strap rusted through

[Sarki]

Tin worm never sleeps.
During winter road trip rear seated passengers complaining about a loud thumping sound when driving over just about any moderate bumps/road irregularities.
Pulled over, took a quick look underneath, nothing obvious. Figured maybe rear shock upper mount, exhaust/muffler or something else came loose.
Fast forward couple weeks did a more thorough inspection while up in the air on lift.
Gas tank strap rusted through, tank basically bouncing around on top of fuel tank skid plate.
Picked up rust free used OEM strap.
Install was no fun, snapped one of the skid plate bolts as well as bolt securing fuel tank strap. This was after 2 weeks of daily applications of Kroil to all hardware.
Heat would have prevented busted bolts but so close to the fuel tank is a no no, at least for me.
Moral of the story…….check your fuel tank strap if your rig has spent time in an area of the country where the winter roads are salted.
All buttoned up and ready for another 200K miles.

 

[brillo_76]

Been there done that. That's how i fixed one of mine. Good to see you sourced a good oem used one.

How is the crossover tube holding up?

The rest of the brackets and nuts good?

The tank good?

 

[Sarki]

How is the crossover tube holding up?

The rest of the brackets and nuts good?

The tank good?

Fortunately no issues with crossover tube, remaining brackets/hardware or fuel tank……all solid with no perforation.
Routinely apply Fluid Film to most of the undercarriage, especially hardware and key areas prone to rust.
As you know, a never ending battle!

 

[brillo_76]

Fortunately no issues with crossover tube, remaining brackets/hardware or fuel tank……all solid with no perforation.

Routinely apply Fluid Film to most of the undercarriage, especially hardware and key areas prone to rust.

As you know, a never ending battle!

Yes sir. I definitely know. It's you against the environment. steel isn't happy in the rust belt.

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[JoeT4R]

So if I press on my fuel tank should I be able to hear a rattling sound if my strap is bad? I'm having some rear end noise after replacing my rear shocks and everything is tightened down properly. I just can't tell if it's the rear shocks themselves or purely coincidence. Didn't touch anything during the replacement process.

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[brillo_76]

So if I press on my fuel tank should I be able to hear a rattling sound if my strap is bad? I'm having some rear end noise after replacing my rear shocks and everything is tightened down properly. I just can't tell if it's the rear shocks themselves or purely coincidence. Didn't touch anything during the replacement process.

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These are known to rust off. Mine was held in by the skid plate.

If you press on your fuel tank it should not move or make any noises.

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[Sarki]

So if I press on my fuel tank should I be able to hear a rattling sound if my strap is bad? I'm having some rear end noise after replacing my rear shocks and everything is tightened down properly. I just can't tell if it's the rear shocks themselves or purely coincidence. Didn't touch anything during the replacement process.

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My strap had rusted in half completely. You really couldn’t tell just by looking at it.
Like Jon described above, my tank was also resting on the skid plate after the strap broke.
I got underneath the truck and pushed up on the gas tank and could easily lift it. Did this when the tank was less than 1/4 full so not to heavy.
If the strap is intact and supporting the tank it should not move at all as the strap keeps it tightly in place.
Hope this is helpful.

 

[JoeT4R]

I'll definitely give this a shot when I go out to my truck. If I step on the rear bumper I can bounce the truck and I hear something that sounds loose, like metal clanking on metal. I cant imagine it's coincidental but just definitely think it's worth looking into for sure. Thank you for the info.

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[Sarki]

I have a feeling this may not be your problem but definitely worth checking out as having the tank bounce around is never a good thing.
Not a bad job if needed though rusted hardware always a concern when in living in an area where the roads are treated in the winter.

 

[brillo_76]

You know, I been slowly switching out the hardware for stainless nuts and bolts. Especially the small diameter and exhaust bolts. I am betting in time, this will make things easier...

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[FD7683]

Should've known to buy a strap, also found my strap broke in half... Ohio truck with 268K miles the tank was held by the skid plate as well.

 

[brillo_76]

Should've known to buy a strap, also found my strap broke in half... Ohio truck with 268K miles the tank was held by the skid plate as well.

I have had 3 like that ....

 

[Sarki]

Should've known to buy a strap, also found my strap broke in half... Ohio truck with 268K miles the tank was held by the skid plate as well.

I was lucky and found a nice clean rust free original one on eBay shipped to me for just under $25 but that was 3 years ago.
I prefer used OEM over aftermarket but the good news is they’re readily available, maybe even still new OEM but didn’t check.