stripped diff cover bolt holes

two of the holes have the thread stripped or damaged? what's the best way to repair them?

helicoil's....

good excuse for a new axle

RichP said:

helicoil's....

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ditto

not to thread hijack or nothing, but dirk, nice name.......i'm guessing you like the books your namesake is in

Redcbr007 said:

good excuse for a new axle

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it is a "new" axle. i didn't ask about upgrading, did i?

how strong is this helicoil stuff?

Stronger than the material your putting it into!

Why don't you use a tap, or is it a die? Tap, I think. If it is just stripped a little a tap will be fine. Dirk, I like the name to. Good books.

What is a helicoli? Never heard of it before.

They look like a spring and are made of steel. When you strip a bolt hole out you drill one a tad bigger and thread it with a tap that comes with the kit. Then you thread the helicoil in and it locks in there. They are very common on high performance aluminum engines from when they are new, a helicoil threaded hole in aluminum is stronger than a threaded aluminum hole in aluminum. If you strip one of them or bung up the threads you remove the helicoil and instert a new one. The work really well on stripped tranny oil pans which I have used them on as well as various MC's I've had which have aluminum engines and trannys and use steel bolts which tend to get really tough to remove after a few years of the steel/aluminum action that happens. A big helicoil kit with a good assortment is expensive, $500 or so, but for common sizes in a single kit you get a drill bit, tap, insert tool and a half dozen helicoils for about $14 or so.