mender Posted September 23, 2022 Report Share Posted September 23, 2022 (edited) I had one of the stock and admittedly old fuel tank straps fail on my Civic last weekend. I have pictures on my phone but for some reason my phone won't send them to my email so I can paste them here. I'll post them eventually! The right side strap failed right at the place where the strap is spot welded to the reinforcing bracket. Most likely scenario is that my removing the tank the weekend before to redo the venting system because of fuel spraying out of the gas cap on hard right turns (filler is on the left side) may have flexed that point enough to start a crack which of course weakened the old strap. I rerouted the vent line to a catch can (thanks, Ron!) and that solved my fuel spraying issue. I'm guessing the strap failed when I lofted one side of the Civic over the curbing in a tight left hand corner. I got black flagged shortly after that but I dragged the tank long enough to wear through the right corner and left a trail of fuel. No fire, thank goodness. Apparently this kind of failure on Civics is common enough that two of my fellow competitors had new straps on hand that they gave to me. Unfortunately my old tank was done and the new Civic tank that I bought a while ago was two hours away at my shop so that ended our day. After getting the car home and up on the hoist, I was able to see where the strap failed. Right at the front where the strap is bolted to the chassis. I took the other strap off to inspect it and sure enough, it had a crack forming at the same place that the other strap had failed. Replaced both straps with the new ones (a pair is less than $30) and installed my new fuel tank. Nice and clean under there now, and I think straps are going to be a regular inspection/replacement item. So all you racers that are using stock fuel tanks and haven't had a close look at them lately, please do so before your next race. Replace the straps, use new bolts where applicable, and check all the rubber hoses for cracking, etc. while you're under there. I was very lucky. Edited September 23, 2022 by mender 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy G. Elliott Posted September 23, 2022 Report Share Posted September 23, 2022 3 hours ago, mender said: I had one of the stock and admittedly old fuel tank straps fail on my Civic last weekend. I have pictures on my phone but for some reason my phone won't send them to my email so I can paste them here. I'll post them eventually! The right side strap failed right at the place where the strap is spot welded to the reinforcing bracket. Most likely scenario is that my removing the tank the weekend before to redo the venting system because of fuel spraying out of the gas cap on hard right turns (filler is on the left side) may have flexed that point enough to start a crack which of course weakened the old strap. I rerouted the vent line to a catch can (thanks, Ron!) and that solved my fuel spraying issue. I'm guessing the strap failed when I lofted one side of the Civic over the curbing in a tight left hand corner. I got black flagged shortly after that but I dragged the tank long enough to wear through the right corner and left a trail of fuel. No fire, thank goodness. Apparently this kind of failure on Civics is common enough that two of my fellow competitors had new straps on hand that they gave to me. Unfortunately my old tank was done and the new Civic tank that I bought a while ago was two hours away at my shop so that ended our day. After getting the car home and up on the hoist, I was able to see where the strap failed. Right at the front where the strap is bolted to the chassis. I took the other strap off to inspect it and sure enough, it had a crack forming at the same place that the other strap had failed. Replaced both straps with the new ones (a pair is less than $30) and installed my new fuel tank. Nice and clean under there now, and I think straps are going to be a regular inspection/replacement item. So all you racers that are using stock fuel tanks and haven't had a close look at them lately, please do so before your next race. Replace the straps, use new bolts where applicable, and check all the rubber hoses for cracking, etc. while you're under there. I was very lucky. When I built Turtle he got a new tank and new stainless steel straps, and I do checked them often! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheelman_99 - C Rallo Posted September 23, 2022 Report Share Posted September 23, 2022 Good to share and keep up on. I assume everyone saw the fire at the VIR 24? A car was being flat towed and caught on fire from a tank strap failure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Infiniti Posted September 23, 2022 Report Share Posted September 23, 2022 @mender If you come to this forum with your phone you could very easily attach those photos directly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbogrill Posted September 24, 2022 Report Share Posted September 24, 2022 10 hours ago, Wheelman_99 said: Good to share and keep up on. I assume everyone saw the fire at the VIR 24? A car was being flat towed and caught on fire from a tank strap failure! What caused the it to ignite? Fuel on exhaust? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanehutton Posted September 24, 2022 Report Share Posted September 24, 2022 Likely sparks from the steel tank dragging on the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted September 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2022 (edited) Thanks for the tip, Ed! Edited September 26, 2022 by mender 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted September 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted September 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2022 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revvhappy Posted September 26, 2022 Report Share Posted September 26, 2022 Do those straps use any damping material? My Toyota had rubber strips between the straps and tank. I wonder if vibration may add to the failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Infiniti Posted September 27, 2022 Report Share Posted September 27, 2022 I don’t like that design Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted September 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2022 After having a strap fail, I'm thinking of some mods but you know, the factory did such a good job of designing a system that is so safe even a fuel cell would be a step backwards... Dang, can't do green font on my phone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted September 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Team Infiniti said: I don’t like that design So if I build a tank enclosure/firewall/skidplate that has a flat bottom that just happens to extend from the back of my splitter to the front of a diffuser, would that be free? Edited September 27, 2022 by mender 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Infiniti Posted September 27, 2022 Report Share Posted September 27, 2022 (edited) 10 hours ago, mender said: So if I build a tank enclosure/firewall/skidplate that has a flat bottom that just happens to extend from the back of my splitter to the front of a diffuser, would that be free? You’re holding the rule book upside down again. Skid plates are material points! Edited September 27, 2022 by Team Infiniti 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted September 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2022 11 hours ago, Team Infiniti said: You’re holding the rule book upside down again. Skid plates are material points! But safety! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted October 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2022 On 9/27/2022 at 8:03 AM, Team Infiniti said: You’re holding the rule book upside down again. Skid plates are material points! Call it creative interpretation... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Infiniti Posted October 21, 2022 Report Share Posted October 21, 2022 1 minute ago, mender said: Call it creative interpretation... whack! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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