Helicoil thread replacement fix

Anyone ever use these before?
Heres what happened. Last night I was out for a drive with my girlfriend. As I made right turns I kept hearing a mild thump thump thump. Later when I got home I started to investigate the situation. To my bewilderment I found that one caliper bolt was completely missing and the other was very loose.
Now, I just got this Jeep XJ last week. 98' with 77k on it. I absolutley love this truck.. Have had many in the past as well. But how the hell did this happen?
So I go to the auto parts store and buy a set of caliper pins/bolts. Well they just kept spinning as I tightened. You guessed it.......the bolt holes were stripped. Previous owner must have torqued them way too tight.
So I was told about the Helicoil system. Looks sensible enough and a person of my mechanical ability is able to take on this task. just drill, tap, and insert Helicoil replacement thread.
So, has anyone ever used these before? Any thoughts on it at all?
By the way, I just discovered this site today and love all the info being posted on here. Its totally cool.

Thanks everyone.

They work great for spark plugs in aluminum heads. Should be equally good for calipers.

In my experience a Heli-coil fix is a better thread than what was there to begin with. Anyone with a Jeep should have a Heli-coil kit...because they're needed.

Like ECKSJAY said.... The threads are actually as good if not better than the originals.... when done properly....
Take your time..... Follow the directions in the kit and you will be fine....

Charles

Yup, if you look at most professional race car engines that are used today most do not rely on the normal threading, most all use helicoils exclusively, reson being that during a quick repair it's too easy to mess up stock type threads so they helicoil them ahead when doing the initial build. Makes fixing a bunged up thread easier in the pits..

I´d try and drill the holes as straight as possible. Have had some trouble in the past with bent bolts/rods, causing brake chatter. Wasn´t much of a bend, imagine they don´t have to be that exact, as there is some play between the rods and calipers anyway. But there is a point where a crooked or bent rod, causes problems.
Just a thought.

8Mud said:

I´d try and drill the holes as straight as possible. Have had some trouble in the past with bent bolts/rods, causing brake chatter. Wasn´t much of a bend, imagine they don´t have to be that exact, as there is some play between the rods and calipers anyway. But there is a point where a crooked or bent rod, causes problems.
Just a thought.

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For Sure - make sure to drill as straight as possible and use a lot of cutting oil. I had a problem where i didnt drill straight once, and that wasnt fun. Make sure to use the right size bit as well (it says on the package). Their tap is a special one, so if you need a longer one (say to tap a hole for a head bolt that snaped in a Toyota 22RE) you will need to get an extention

They are a nice system and a great idea. Im glad they worked for me!

good luck

A bit of thread drift...back in the good old days, air cooled VW's came with inverse helicoils. The nuts on the exhaust ports had helicoils (or, since we should remember that "helicoil" is a brand name, some generic equivalent) in them so that you could remove them without stripping the studs. It was an ingenious solution, which I wish more manufacturers used on such parts.

Well I went ahead and fixed it with the Helicoil. Those things are great. That caliper seems to be nice and snug. Such a great little kit and such a simple process. I drilled it as straight as I could. I would say there is a slight angle to the hole. Perhaps only 1 or 2 degrees. But the caliper bolt threaded up nice and tight. No problems. Already put about 60 miles on it since the repair. All looks good.
Thanks for all the words of wisdom.

I did this on my buddies XJ back in April. He has put on about 12,000 miles so far, and he goes through pads like tissue paper and so far so good with the helicoils.