Stripped lug bolt holes

[chris's 67]

While trying to service the brakes on my 76 sovereign project, I stripped two lugs when removing the wheel. Evidently the previous owner had the tire changed and the changer overtorqued the bolts. I checked the lug bolts and there were pieces of hub lodged in the threads of the bolt. I checked the bolts and I thought the bolt size is 1/2 by 20 thread, I cleaned the threads with a set of 1/2 by 20 taps and the bolts still will not hold. I need to find a proper solution to my problem. Thanks in advance for any advice.

[vswingfield]

HeliCoil Heli-Coil ( HeliCoil Inserts ) Helicoils Screw Thread Inserts | Emhart.com inserts. My understanding is that they are stronger than the original threads. I have a Shimano 600 SIS shifters on an old road bike that came from the factory with them. Aluminum doesn’t make for strong threads, so the factory installed them. A Google shearch will show up many sources, this site has good information. You can probably get them at an auto parts supply.

[Jim Foster]

I have used Heli-coil thread inserts many times to repair stripped threads, but I would not use them on something that is to be removed and replaced over and over such as repairing wheel lug holes. When you remove the lugs, sometimes the coils will be bonded to the lugs and come back out.

[overlander63]

Plus the price of the HeliCoil kit would come close to the price of a new drum. If you wanted to, now would be a good excuse to retrofit your drums with studs and lug nuts.