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This is a 2002 9-5 that had a tank strap fail from rust. Fortunately it failed at the front mount and the strap made noise dragging on the pavement. Otherwise the car ran fine with the tank and inch or two lower on one side. The little info I found on the interwebby was confusing and conflicting but in the end a very easy job (a someone mentioned in the original thread) as fortunately at least 2002 9-5's do not use the usual j bolt or similar threaded mounts with nuts.
Some items of interest:
1. The straps do not appear to fail as sometimes reported because of moisture trapped between the plastic layer and steel. Mine failed at the small gap in the plastic liner at the tops of each strap next to the bolt mount. Beside the broken one, the other three were badly corroded. This is not an easy thing to inspect as it is almost out of sight near the top of the tank at the body and you cant observe the corrosion on the backside (tank side) of the strap.
2. Except for the mounts, the rest of my straps were not rusty enough to raise concern. In fact the passenger side still had the black paint intact with almost no bubbling.
3. The mounts use a 10mm bolt that goes through the strap end and into a mount welded to the frame. 14 years in the rust belt and all 4 came off easily. Far better method than the rusty J bolts or similar nut fastener.
4. The tank will not fall off if both straps fail- I think I read a report from a Saab owner saying his tank dropped off at highway speed. That appears impossible- Saab wisely cradled the tank with the parking brake cables and the exhaust. Especially as these are really pretty flimsy straps.
As I don't expect the car to outlast new straps I bought cheap Propart straps. They appear to be identical in construction to the oems right down to the location of the spot welds. Replacement was like a half hour or so with a 10mm deep socket, ratchet, and extensions. Bottle jack to support the tank and ramps.
posted by 107.196.3...
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