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Ford F-150 fuel tank may cause recall: the Ford F-150 fuel tank may have faulty steel straps that could break and lead to fires. Will Ford have to recall 2.7 million trucks?

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Ford F-150 recall coming? A 1997 Ford F-150 pickup truck in a photo provided by Ford. US safety regulators are investigating a fuel tank problem that could affect more than 2.7 million 1997-2001, Ford F-150 pickup trucks.

U.S. safety regulators are investigating a fuel tank problem that could affect more than 2.7 million Ford F-150 pickup trucks.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday that the steel straps holding up the truck's gas tank can rust and break, possibly causing a fuel spill and fire. No injuries have been reported from the possible defect.

The agency is looking into trucks from the 1997 through 2001 model years. NHTSA's investigations often lead to recalls.

NHTSA began looking at the fuel tank problem last year after it received 32 complaints. NHTSA and Ford have now received 243 reports of the tanks falling. In two incidents, a fire started when the fuel tank fell. One of the fires destroyed the pickup, while the other extinguished itself.

NHTSA said there was fuel leakage in 95 of the reported incidents. Nine reported sparks when the tank dropped on the road, which would increase the likelihood of a fire.

Ford said it's cooperating with the investigation. Company spokesman Wes Sherwood said owners with questions should contact their dealers.

The investigation isn't related to an air bag defect that caused the recent recall of 1.2 million F-150s from the 2004-2006 model years.

The F-Series has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for more than three decades. It's been the subject of recent sniping between NHTSA and Ford because of air bags that could deploy at the wrong time. Ford announced in February that it would fix 150,000 F-150s for that problem, but under pressure from regulators, it expanded the recall to 1.2 million trucks last month. In that case, there were 98 reported injuries because of the problem.
That happened to my 1968 Ranchero back in the 70s. It did not catch fire, but it did start leaking after that. I was going down the road and it just fell and started dragging. I tied it up with the rubber strap that was holding the battery in place till I could make new straps.
I am all for quality in build and I believe Ford does a great job. 1997 is going back quite a few years.

Is it just me of does it seem that NHTSA is picking on Ford - maybe because it refused to buckle under government pressure and take bail out money and government oversight?
Well it did go all the way to 2001. But I agree Ford makes a good car, what I think makes Ford great is they build cars they know the public wants. I think they really listen to the people on a broad scale. When it comes to other manufacturers they don't do that on a grand scale. They have a model or 2 that is successful and the rest is crap. JMHO

The Crown Vic has been a big success for Ford, but now I see the cars being switched to SUV's at least in Arizona. Oh and they are all Chevys, humm must be part of the Bailout package. "Well give you lots of money and then we will buy Chevys now instead of Fords." My neighbor is a cop he hates the Chevy SUVs and misses the Crown Vic.