Does anyone know what this is? On my way home from work I notice a sound of something dragging the ground. I pulled over an seen this! 
That looks like a gas tank strap.
Tester
7 Likes
Time to get your car to a local mechanic and get this fixed, right away. Like today. Don’t go driving it to work and figuring you’ll deal with it soon.
1 Like
Is this something that is easy to fix?
It should be pretty straight forward and not terribly expensive. You should ask if there is a rust problem under there.
Do you think this is a gas tank strap? I’m aware that I need to take it to a Mechanic! I’m just here trying to find out what it could be!
Yes, I agree. It’s hard to see well, but I agree with @Tester, who has been knowledgeable in the past.
The replacement straps are cheap.
But looking at the rust, it won’t be easy.
You have to remove the bolts that secure the straps to the vehicle without stripping out the threads or snapping them off.
And some people wonder why some fuel pump replacements costs so much.
Tester
Good advice above. Don’t defer this repairTiffany, the loss of one strap is putting stress on the fuel tank and fittings, and something might start leaking fuel. The strap dragging on the road will produce sparks. Fuel leaks combined with sparks, not a good thing.
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Not to mention that if one strap broke, the other is probably not far from breaking, too, or the termites quit holding hands and let go. Then picture the entire gas tank dropping out of the bottom of the car, possibly spewing highly volatile gasoline. That could cause the driver to quickly feel very homesick.
This vehicle is officially black flagged and should be removed from the road.
Thank you.
CSA
3 Likes
Look at all that rust. It might be time to have this car sold for scrap and hauled off to the junk yard, particularly if it isn’t running well.
In 1974 I had a tank fall out of a 66 Tempest LeMans convertible. I heard a bang, looked in the mirror and saw it sliding down the road behind me. We both stopped (car and tank) and I went back to look it over. No leaks. It had a short fill tube because it was in the era when the filler was behind the license plate, so we picked it up and put it in the trunk, I fished the fuel hose up through one of the rust holes in the trunk floor and plugged it back on, slammed the trunk down, cranked her up, and drove it for about 6 months more, until the frame gave up and the car sagged so much in the middle the doors jammed. That was the end.
How old is this car? I would tow this car to the scrap yard instead of the repair shop.