Rear of Gas Tank supposed to move?

[MountainBiker]

I've been chasing down a rear end clunk, and it looks like it's a Panhard Bar Bushing that has failed. But in my quest to find the clunk, I found that I can push up on the rear of the gas tank and get it to raise about 3/8". It moves freely, lifting off of the support strap.

I can feel the ~1/8" thick rubber pad on top of the tank that is placed to contact the frame crossmember. The crossmember location is shown in the snip below from Tim's video (at 34:00) for fuel pump replacement.

Since there is no adjustability in the strap, it makes sense that the tank will move vertically a little bit, but I'm hoping someone else in this community could take a look at their rig to let me know if this is normal. Unless the gas tank is full, it is quite easy to push up on the weld seam that protrudes towards the driveshaft at the rear of the tank.

 

[Ron Burgandy]

pretty common for those straps to rust out and break up here in the rust belt, leaving the tank to bounce off the skidplate. by the looks of yours though it doesn’t appear you live in the great north


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[brillo_76]

I only seen these tanks move if the tank strap is bad abs in pieces. When I put new tank straps in they don't move. Not exactly sure what is wrong unless the tank strap somehow stretched. Or the rubber on the tank is missing.

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[MountainBiker]

Thanks folks! I'll be pulling my Lil Skips gas tank skid to check out the strap and rubber piece, and I'll update this thread.