Thread: Stripped Rear Wheel Hub
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Old Dec 11, 2012 | 12:27 AM
  #27 (permalink)  
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onehundred80
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From: Ontario
Default Re: Stripped Rear Wheel Hub
Originally Posted by MJPowers
I did drill them by hand, but I used two right-angle guides for horizontal and vertical. I was happy with the results, but since I autocross almost every weekend in the summer, I end up performing about 100 times the wheel changes most cars see in their lifetime. I did the helicoil fix in 2010 and raced all season with them in 2011. I replaced both hubs last winter and figured that I wouldn't tempt fate.
What would worry me if I did this is the probability of not having the same center as the original and having the new thread not at a right angle to the hub face. This would mean that the ball seat was not contacting the wheel properly and the stud ball was hitting the side of the seat rather than the bottom. You cannot see it so all may seem OK. That is not desirable at all and will damage the wheel to a greater or lesser degree.

Done well the Helicoil should be better than OEM and wear better. The stud would probably wear faster then the Helicoil insert and the stud would wear much faster if the thread was too much off center.

This could be a case where lack of knowledge leads to a problem. Using a cheap Chinese Helicoil tap and insert is not recommended. I did use one once and the bolt was way to loose in the insert.

The torque setting for the studs (81 ft/lbs) is low because the thread engagement is quite short, over torquing the studs leads to stripped threads. Using studs that are too short could easily give you stripped threads even using the specified torque setting.

I'm sorry for the long post but if a few threads were done in a hub incorrectly you may be close to loosing a wheel without knowing it.
 
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