Tank Mounting problems of the 2003 Ford F-150

My 2003 f150 had the straps holding the gas tank snapped while traveling down the interstate at 65 mph, I could see flames on the road from the fuel leaking when the tank hit the highway. Once I stopped the truck, I found the gas tank had fallen off and was dragging the ground leaking fuel everywhere, I had 20 gallons of fuel leak out so I had to call the bristol, va fire dept. To come clean up the fuel spill, there was no damage to the truck other than the fuel tank and the straps that I know of needing to be replaced. The local Ford dealer tells me that Ford has a recall on this in areas of the country, but not in virginia. The Ford recall says it is only in areas that use road sale (high corrosion) areas such as kentucky and west virginia, I live in virginia near the kentucky boarder ( within 20 miles) I feel the recall needs to be expanded to virginia the Ford dealer told me they have seen other issues like this in their shop. This recall needs to be expanded quickly I was blessed that the sparks from the tank dragging the ground did not result in an explosion and fire that could have led to serious injury or possibly my death or even someone else being injured this is a huge issue that needs to be addressed.

The contact owns a 2003 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the vehicle was included in the recall associated with NHTSA campaign id number 11v385000 (fuel system, gasoline:storage:tank assembly:mounting). The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and the contact was advised that the fuel tank was also corroded, but that failure was not addressed in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 57,000.

My 2003 Ford F-150 was subject to recall to replace the gas tank mounting straps which are known to corrode and fail. The fuel tank on the truck had significant rust under one of the straps, resulting in a leak in the area under the strap. When I brought the truck in for the recall work I notified the service department that the tank was leaking under the strap. I was told as long as the tank was leaking as a result of the strap failure and not leaking at a seam or elsewhere on the tank, Ford would replace the tank. I was later notified that Ford denied the tank replacement due to the fact that it was already leaking. I was told that if the result occured as a result of the repair then Ford would replace the tank at no cost to me but since it was already leaking, they wouldn't take responsibility for the tank repair, only the replacement of the straps. As a result, I replaced the tank at my own expense. The fuel tank that was removed from this truck was in very good condition with the exception of the rust under the fuel tank strap. There was no leakage at any of the seams or anywhere else on the tank. The failure of the tank, in my opinion, is a direct result of the corrosion of the straps. Ford has acknowledged this as a problem but will only repair tanks (at their expense) that begin leaking during the course of the repair. I feel that this is a severe safety issue that Ford is aware of and therefore the current recall for fuel tank straps should immediately be expanded to include the inspection of tanks and the free replacement of any tank showing corrosion in the vicinity of the failed straps.

Fuel tank fell off vehicle as a result of rusted mounting is a one owner well maintained Ford f150 purchased new in 2003 and mileage is only 100,222. New straps were located and installed 6/29/2010 and old straps were labeled and kept.