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BeeCee
Active Member
What's up guys,
Just wanted to share the following with everyone and hope it might help someone in the future.
Recently I came home from a drive in my '97 Ranger, and when I stepped out, I noticed the fuel tank hanging.
Of course the old straps gave out in 21+ years of age, and I decided I wanted to repair the problem by getting the actual straps, instead of doing a quick fix like wire or rope, etc.
I did some searching on the forum and didn't find much at all regarding fuel tank strap replacement.
I did some YouTube searching as well, and came across this video which initially seemed to be helpful, especially since its essentially the exact same truck as mine, '97 XLT 2WD:
https://youtu.be/vr9tG6aL2fY
Each strap is held in by a bolt on the inner side (middle of bed), and a metal hook on the outside. Luckily, I was able to get both bolts out without any breaks.
If the bolts come out, getting the old broken rusted brackets out isn't hard.
The problem for me was getting in the new brackets. Definitely was a PITA, and I actually managed to do it in the opposite was shown in the YouTube video linked. He suggests installing the hooks first, which is the harder part of the install, first, and then bolt it up second. Which made sense. But for me, I couldn't get it to work this way due to the driveshaft. No matter how I tried to maneuver it, I couldn't manage to get the bolt hole side up and past the drive shaft with the hook already installed. Idk if the truck in the video linked had a smaller drivershaft or what, but no way could I get the bolt hole tab past the driveshaft. So I decided to try it the opposite way. I loosely bolted each side up first, and after a lot of fighting and jack maneuvering, I was able to get each strap locked into the hook notch with it already bolted up. After, I finished tightening the bolts securely.
Also, I purchased straps from RockAuto, as well as Autozone. RockAuto is usually my go-to for mostly everything, but Autozone got the upper hand on this one.
RockAuto straps:
The middle hump in the one strap is wayyy too much, and would have made it even more impossible than it already was.
The Spectra ones I purchased from Autozone had a hump that was way less drastic and appeared to fall more in line with the OE strap.
Both seemed good quality, just appeared that the Autozone Spectra straps were a little better shaped/fitting.
Just my .02, hope this helps anyone in the future looking to repair their broken fuel tank straps.
Just wanted to share the following with everyone and hope it might help someone in the future.
Recently I came home from a drive in my '97 Ranger, and when I stepped out, I noticed the fuel tank hanging.
Of course the old straps gave out in 21+ years of age, and I decided I wanted to repair the problem by getting the actual straps, instead of doing a quick fix like wire or rope, etc.
I did some searching on the forum and didn't find much at all regarding fuel tank strap replacement.
I did some YouTube searching as well, and came across this video which initially seemed to be helpful, especially since its essentially the exact same truck as mine, '97 XLT 2WD:
https://youtu.be/vr9tG6aL2fY
Each strap is held in by a bolt on the inner side (middle of bed), and a metal hook on the outside. Luckily, I was able to get both bolts out without any breaks.
If the bolts come out, getting the old broken rusted brackets out isn't hard.
The problem for me was getting in the new brackets. Definitely was a PITA, and I actually managed to do it in the opposite was shown in the YouTube video linked. He suggests installing the hooks first, which is the harder part of the install, first, and then bolt it up second. Which made sense. But for me, I couldn't get it to work this way due to the driveshaft. No matter how I tried to maneuver it, I couldn't manage to get the bolt hole side up and past the drive shaft with the hook already installed. Idk if the truck in the video linked had a smaller drivershaft or what, but no way could I get the bolt hole tab past the driveshaft. So I decided to try it the opposite way. I loosely bolted each side up first, and after a lot of fighting and jack maneuvering, I was able to get each strap locked into the hook notch with it already bolted up. After, I finished tightening the bolts securely.
Also, I purchased straps from RockAuto, as well as Autozone. RockAuto is usually my go-to for mostly everything, but Autozone got the upper hand on this one.
RockAuto straps:
The middle hump in the one strap is wayyy too much, and would have made it even more impossible than it already was.
The Spectra ones I purchased from Autozone had a hump that was way less drastic and appeared to fall more in line with the OE strap.
Both seemed good quality, just appeared that the Autozone Spectra straps were a little better shaped/fitting.
Just my .02, hope this helps anyone in the future looking to repair their broken fuel tank straps.
