I've had my Crossfire for about a year, and when I pulled the wheels off for the first time I noticed that a couple of the bolts weren't tight. When I re-mounted the tires I found out why. Two of the bolts - one on each side of the rear axle were stripped. Both of these bolts had reduced depth in the threads.

Any tips on if I can tap these holes to clean up the threads, or go with an oversized bolt, or some other solution?

Appreciate any suggestions.

 

So are the bolts damaged or is it the hub threads?

You should be able to purchase a tap or thread chaser for the hub. Buy some new bolts and see if they will hold torque.

If you try another bolt in the hole-in-question, will it tighten?

James

 

its not worth the risk. you could have someone weld the holes up and redrill them to stock specs.

The problem with oversized bolts is you'd have to have the wheel drilled out as well.

Or buy new brake rotors, since thats what the wheels thread into in the first place

 

Not sure I understand that one

 

The brake rotors are what the wheels are bolted to, as far as i can tell, the threads go no further than the thickness of the rotor. So if he has damaged threads, new rotors should remedy the problem

 

You might want to rethink that after having a closer look at the second pic in the first post.

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...-hub-rust.html

The lug bolts pass through the rotor and thread into the hub itself. So, new rotors won't help with his issue.
hopefully, It's just a couple of stripped bolts and there is no damage to the hub. Just as Infinite said, Drilling and tapping for a larger bolt also means drilling the wheel so the larger bolt may pass through it. The brake rotor would no doubt require the hole/s enlarged as well. All this will probably cost more than replacing the stripped hub in the long run!

 

As far as you can tell is wrong ,,,,,does not bolt into rotor,,


Howard

 

well I never looked much into it. lol
Honestly I think I might modify the stock hubs to accept studs. I hate wheel bolts with a passion

 

THere are remedies for this sort of thing. You end up oversizing the hole and adding a helicoil repair. It is a double sided screw in part that threads into the hub, and has internal threads that are original in size so the fix is like new.

It is science and takes a little effort but no hard, just do the research to find them and follow the instructions. THere are also spark plug thread repair kits for this sort of issue.'' ENJOY W DY

RoadStarMagazine.com - How to use a Helicoil

TAAAA DAAA freaking easy piezie...................WW

 

THere are remedies for this sort of thing. You end up oversizing the hole and adding a helicoil repair. It is a double sided screw in part that threads into the hub, and has internal threads that are original in size so the fix is like new.

It is science and takes a little effort but no hard, just do the research to find them and follow the instructions. THere are also spark plug thread repair kits for this sort of issue.'' ENJOY W DY

RoadStarMagazine.com - How to use a Helicoil

TAAAA DAAA freaking easy piezie...................WW

 

Those were my pics of the hubs that were referenced earlier. I just got the wheels put back on last night and my Rotex Gold brake job is complete.

The lug bolt torque spec is 81 foot-pounds on Crossfires, which is on the low side compared to many cars. It sounds to me like at some point a big-ole' impact wrench was used to tighten these wheel bolts and two got stripped. That's why I never let any tire jockeys work on my vehicles. My wheels always come off and I carry them in for any tire replacement and/or balancing. Not only can they strip lugs, but impacts can warp the rotors. Hand tighten only using a torque wrench.

Ordinarily I'd recommend replacing both hubs, but parts are so hard to come by for these that it may not be an option here. Used hubs off eBay might be another way to go.

 

I would buy a new hub before I would helicoil anything connected to the safety of holding wheels on.

James

 

Thanks for the info. I'll be on the lookout for replacement hubs. In the mead time, I may google to see if there are any high-strength options available.

 

Did you try a known-good bolt in the questionable holes? James

 

James, that could lead us down a very bad path.........

 

this. A helicoil would be a temporary solution until you find a new hub. I wouldnt do any hard or highspeed driving on a helicoiled hole. If it were just one hole you might be fine.

www.moparpartsamerica.com has the cheapest prices for parts I've seen so far, its just a matter of whether or not the part is actually available.

here is a used hub on ebay.
Wheel Bearing / Hub MERCEDES SLK 1997 - 2004 : eBay Motors (item 290422973197 end time May-08-10 07:17:41 PDT)

 

Thanks for all the advice, and witty commentary.

To James: "Did you try a known-good bolt in the questionable holes?", I went through about 8 bolts over the course of the last few months, all of them ended up stripped.

I looked at the e-bay posting, but it was for a front hub. And, I talked to an engineer at Emhart (Helicoil), and he confirmed that a stainless steel thread insert in the wheel hub would be an appropriate application. I found a comparable brand - ReCoil by Alcoa.

Short version: drilled, tapped, inserted coil. Nice solid fit, and torqued like a new hub. I will be keeping an eye on it to confirm reliability. I have pics attached.

Thanks again for all the advice, and if I have any trouble with it, I'll add it to this post.

 

I am glad to see you got her fixed up with a reasonable solution. If the manufacturer recommends the repair, go for it.

Good luck with your repair, and thanks for the effort to post info and pictures.

James

 

When I worked for fort fumble, helicoils were put into softer metal, Al for strength. If you followed the post I did before, the helicoil is stronger than the original. Its bigger in diameter, ie more mass and meat and the thread is hardened, often stainless.

Using a short bolt is bad in that it over stresses the beginning threads and pulls them out. That is why you gotta know that the bolt fits correctly when you change fittment of the wheels and spacers. Its not a bolt, its a mechanical fastner and there are real stresses that need consideration.

Woody

 

Thanks Woody. Your post put me on the Helicoil path. The hardest part was drilling the hole, knowing I was at the point of no return for that hub. Between this forum and the folks at Emhart, I felt confident that this was a good solution.
Mike