Kymasabe

Well, replaced my front brakes a couple of weeks ago and I know for sure my left front caliper is barely held in place, both front caliper bolt holes are stripped. I guess I have to drill it and install a threaded insert but was wondering what would be a good choice. I'd LOVE to put in a time-sert, but at $75 a kit, is a little expensive. Heli-coil is my other choice I guess. My local Ace hardware carries some other brand I never heard of and don't trust. So, what have you all been usin and have you had any problem with Heli-coils? They holding caliper bolts ok?

Ok, stupid newbie questions here but...does the tab/tang thing on the helicoil go at the top of bottom of the helicoil? I see it's removable, just looks possibly hard to remove if it's at the bottom so...was wondering.

TrailerTrash

One of the bolts on my driver side is Helicoiled. Holding up fine was like that when I bought it. there was also a bolt in it that was so long it pushed the pad against the rotor. so watch out for that lol

00t444e

I used a helicoil on mine and it worked fine.

67 GMC

It looks like you have a 2WD. New calipers are under $100. Why bother with inserts and helicoils? Brakes are the most important thing on the Jeep. Need to be able to stop.

00t444e

The threaded part is on the steering knuckle not the break caliper.

jordan96xj

Heli-coils will work for that application. Watch a few youtube videos on them if you are unsure about the tab orientation, or what to do with them. (top and bottom of heli-coil is a bit relative). But the "tang" (or tab) usually is on the end that is first threaded into the hole. It is what allows the insert tool to rotate the heli-coil into position. Then when the coil is in position, it is typically knocked out with the insert tool by giving it a light "tap" and it snaps right off.

With the steering knuckle being so narrow, you may need to run the coil in until it is flush, and then grind a little off on the other side so that it is flush as well. You don't want it to interfere with either the head of the caliper slide bolt, or the caliper mount itself, both of which need to sit flush against the knuckle surface.

RocketMouse

While there are fixes for issues like what you're having.... especially for the low cost, and being able to reliably stop correctly is the most important thing on any vehicle.. I'd have to agree with 67 GMC on this one. So a X2 on that.

And may even be less than that. I priced calipers for my 4WD XJ just a few weeks back just in case I needed them to complete the job. And they were only like 30ish a piece. That's cheap insurance in my book.
But obviously the end choice is up to you.

jordan96xj

The stripped out threads are not on the caliper, and can not be repaired by replacing the caliper (as already mentioned in one of the posts above). A heli-coil thread repair on the steering knuckle is a safe and effective repair in this case. It is basically the only repair short of replacing the entire steering knuckle, which in this case, is not necessary.

Kymasabe

yup, what Jordan said. The stripped holes are in the knuckle. I already replaced the right side caliper and brake hose, and those caliper bolts seem to be holding. Since I have to pull the caliper on the left side now to do the helicoil, was planning on putting new caliper and brake hose on left side too while I'm at it. Well, if helicoil is working for y'all, that's what I'll use.
Thanks for the advice/reviews everyone.

67 GMC

I stand corrected about the threads. I did my hubs recently and couldn't remember where they thread it. Are you up to do a knuckle?

RocketMouse

lol... that's what I get for posting on a day that I was on zero sleep from the day before. I know what it is... brain just wasn't engaged. lol thanks.

jordan96xj

Here is the trouble with replacing knuckles. If bought from a auto parts store, they are way too expensive. Napa and Advance are asking around $250-300 each for them. Which is insane. They are literally a chunk of cast metal with a small amount of machining on them. So the next option is junkyard, which on top of the tedious job of getting them out, also provides you with knuckles where the threads are already stripped or very likely to do so because the original holes are in poor quality metal that corrodes easily and the threads disintegrate.

This is why the heli-coil ends up being the better option. Obviously way cheaper. Also a permanent repair. Also the quality of metal for the threads is higher, and they will likely last for the remainder of the life of the vehicle.

Sometimes Amazon has the knuckles for significantly cheaper. I got one for about $120 and another I found in their warehouse deals for $50. But that was just a lucky break. When I went and priced them at the parts stores, I couldn't believe what they were asking. Imagine if you had a mechanic doing the job, they would mark it up even more (perhaps double). $500-600 for a chunk of lightly machined low quality steel that literally starts rusting the day you install it.

Kymasabe

Well, I looked in the toolbox, and turns out, I have an ancient m8x1.25 helicoil kit that I never used so...I've got that already. The question I still have is, are these wound wire inserts really strong enough to hold the caliper OR should I still be looking at using a time-sert, which is a counterbored steel insert?

Kymasabe

Nevermind, I found a YouTube video with a test of a bunch of inserts and HeliCoil worked pretty well so I'm just gonna use what I have.

jordan96xj

I don't think they sustain the type of forces that people think they do. Nothing is really trying to pull them out of the knuckle. They mostly resist the rotating force of the rotor as the pads are pressed against it. If they had significant forces trying to pull them out of their threads, they wouldn't have the design that they do. Given how easily the crappy knuckle threads fall apart due to corrosion, I would be willing to bet that the heli-coil is actually superior to the original threads. I also doubt that you will ever strip the heli-coil unless you really try.