Nice video. We followed your instruction but the tap in the helicoil 9MM X 1.25 repair kit said to use a U drill which is 0.368" vs 0.375" that you used. That's 0.007" smaller that 3/8's and will result in a little better bite for the helicoil outside threads. Tap went in just like in your video. Cast iron is easy to tap. Nice job. We were thinking steering knuckle but O'Riellys had the helicoil kit. Your vid sent us in the right direction. Subscribed.
I’m going to have to do this on my 00 Dakota sport. I just finished putting in upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, and sway bar links on both sides and as I was putting the driver side back together I noticed that I was having a particularly hard time getting the caliper pins to bite into the threads. So I pulled the caliper back off and saw that my threads in the knuckle were gone. After scouring the internet and local parts stores for two days I was about to give up. Thank god I found this video. Now to amazon to buy the kit lol
Thanks so much for this video. I have been cussing up a storm wondering why my sh!t won't go back together (on one of the easiest jobs to do on a vehicle). Both fronts need this. My Dakota is just shy of 200k miles. I am surprised this is needed. It looks like I am not the only one!! Thanks again! Remember to lube your tap!!
Thanks for the vid! This is an approved repair noted on a TSB issued by Dodge. Apparently the material that the helicoil is made out of is of a higher quality steel than what's used in the knuckle. Don't quote me on it, but if it's approved by Dodge its good enough for me. Common problem on the 97-04 Dakotas and Durangos.
2 thumbs up! I followed your video instructions to a T for my 98 dodge Dakota and had perfect results. Thanks for saving me so much time, aggravation and $$$ on replacing a steering knuckle.
Thought I should share, there is a company called "help" they sell an over sized caliper bolt. This is the easiest fix, its self tapping and goes right into the original hole. Napa carries these and I am sure a few others do as well. Did this to my Durango after stripped the hole on the knuckle. Easier fix.
Thanks for the video. Worked great for my 2004 VW Passat, although mine was on the carrier bolt hole and not the caliper pin hole. One thing I noticed, you didn't use the helicoil tool when installing the coil. My helicoil was a larger size diameter, so I needed that tool to help compress the helicoil for it to thread into my tapped hole. I also added some cutting oil on the tap when cutting. Other than that, great video - to the point, great angles, great walk through.
Great video. For the life of me I couldn't find the right size but at any hardware store so I didn't know what size kit I needed. 9x1.25. Great, Thanks for the video.
Few notes here.. First off it is NOT a common size found in any hardware store, but most auto parts stores carry the kit with helicoils, tap and insertion tool but do not carry the 25/64 drill bit required. The oversized self tapping bolts work BUT they do not recommend using more than 1 per side AND they are self tapping and not designed to be removed and reused. Notice the very thin walls on the bracket around the holes. Notice how much material the drill removes. I helicoiled my 99 and the first time I came to a full stop the mount broke! Now I MUST replace the whole steering knuckle! NAPA, Autozone and Advance online show no listing for this part! I did find them listed on Amazon but they claim to be all genuine MOPAR replacement parts and range in price from $400 to $1200 so I am assuming my left side for 4X4 is going to be the $1200 one! When a cordless drill chews through cast like butter you KNOW it is NOT good cast! SHAME ON DODGE FOR ALLOWING THIS CRAP!!
Wow thumbs up for your video! I have the same problem with the driver side knuckle. I never heard of those heli coils before until now. Thank you for the video. I can now fix this problem with out buying a new knuckle that will probably do the same thing again. Thumps up and will subscribe!
Excellent, well explained work partner! Only thing I'd add is to suggest you use some of that spray lube on the tap. Keeps the tap sharp and helps it cut easier.
Wish I had seen this before I tried to pool some steel in there to tap out, apparently from what I read at a Welding site, when you heat up cast metal and weld even soft rod into it the cast knuckle the filler metal takes on hardening properties from the carbon in the casting, I know I could not drill it afterwards and never would be able to tap it without destroying the tap. Going to attempt to blow out the filler metal, then drill and helicoil. This video illustrates a much smarter approach, one I will remember!
my 1998 Dakota r/t had the same problem. the helicoil kit is going to weaken the steering knuckle so i am going to weld a bit of steel plating on the outside of the steering knuckle. Hopefully this will strengthen the knuckle and stop it from cracking. New knuckles are upwards of 1000$ which is absurd considering I only paid 2k for the truck. hope this will work or else im headed to the junkyard to get new parts. I will add a reply to this comment if its a success
I see lots of people saying that these won't hold for long because there's not enough metal left after the drilling. So what's the story with the ones in the video....are they holding? I don't want to waste my time going through all that if I should be looking for a new/used steering knuckle.
Whoever was in charge of pouring these cast iron steering knuckles--should be strung up by a break line, but don't use the steering knuckle to hold the noose; it would probally break? This is a good fix. If you are ablosutey stuck in the middle of know where--piss off at Dodge, you can tap out holes, and use bolts. (Match bolt diameter with disc break caliper holes.) Yea, it's not pretty, but works. You will still need a tap though. Dodge should recall all of these, or just send everyone who asks a steering knuckle? Just when I was about to forgive American made stuff.
1. Yes it does work. 2. I wouldn't recommend it though. 3. They make over size Raybestos self tapping pins. 4. And the heli-coil method is pretty easy. 5. My biggest problem was getting the right heli-coil. I went through Amazon. Get the bushings while your at it. 6. Take your time. 7. You don't want to tap the wrong side of the caliper. 8. I was so pissed off I almost did. 9. Now I need to rebuild the trains, and replace the heater coil. 9. I kinda don't want to give up my ''97 Dodge because believe it or not they are easier to work on then newer trucks. 10. Oh, yea--if you have a stall problem while at idle; and you looked at all the obvious causes; the computer might need to be reflashed. I found out that the hard way too.
My conscious got to me. While I don't recommend using bolts, if you are stuck you have to get it on the road. I belive I used 3/8" bolts, but measure the caliper bolts width, and match up the bolt. You might need to cut down the bolt? You do not want to tighten the head of the bolt to the caliper. Leave a 1/8", or a bit more of wiggle room. The caliper bushing will allow for movement. Try to get the bolt threads smooth. The sector of the bolt that is in touch with the caliper bushings. (Or, just leave the threads alone). I put 5,000 miles on my truck before I did it right, but I think I just got lucky. You could mess up the caliper, and the wheel spindle. This is a poor man's fix. I am a poor man.
diyconstruction which one the fuck is it with you old fart mechanics? one day youre talkin shit about foreign cars and now American made cars are shit... how about this... THEY ALL BREAK. loOK at the fucking sidebar, theres this exact same thing... but ON A TOYOTA!
I have exactly same problem on 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier. I measured bolt, it is 7/16 - 18. I didn't see any sets w/that particular size. Can I substitute with something else? Thank you for a good film.
helicoil will not hold up under the pressure. over time (about 3 months) if your lucky it will give way and you will have to do again. Change the knuckle
we have same truck same year same knuckle slide pin hole strip.. where did you buy the kit, can you please write down the size of thehelicoil and the bit I'm gonna use? thanks man . I appreciate it. awesome video.. helps a lot...
I was about to do the same thing today But when you start drilling The wall starts getting thinner And has no meat on it Thats why I thought twice about it Is yours still holding up
I am new at this. Will the spray cleaner/lube (petroleum based?) you used damage the rubber boots in the background? What about the metal shavings landing in the folds of those boots? Would it be better to throw a rag over parts in the background? Shouldn't you use lube for the tap too? Thank you.
that is the same steering knuckle that is on my dodge Dakota I had to replace that on mine and good look finding one in a junkyard vary vary hard to find part. can not get it at a dealer I was told sorry it was discontinued $250 from a junk yard $950 aftermarket
got a question sir... i picked up the helicoil kit am i'm gonna do this job tomorrow. the package lists 23/64 as drill size, tap says drill size "u" slightly bigger than 23/64 and a 3/8 drill bit is used for final hole in the video. do i go with the slightly smaller size or am i safe to go to 3/8?
This should be a damn Recall! ... brakes loose fluid, wear out, hey, I get that, but damn it, Brakes should always BRAKE, and never BREAK, calipers falling off?/? wtf over? ...Ive NEVER known or owned any car that this could happen to before unless some dumbass didnt put it together right, Ive owned cars and trucks from 1950 to 2000, this is a first for me. someone make this a class action. Stripping out tiny ass pins that hold your brakes together shouldnt ever be a concern.
I must agree. This is fucking ridiculous. I've got a 99 truck with 6000 original miles, where the pin was improperly manufactured from new, and galled all the threads out.
Isn't it recommend by Helicoil not to use any type of loctite on the inserts? I'm about to do the same thing on my 2000 Durango once the Helicoil gets here. Been watching tons of videos and reading and from what I found loctite can actually cause the insert to spin?
I did this 2 years ago to my 98 Dakota, the helicoil did not hold because the slide pins are loose and I could not tighten them. Can I buy a new caliper bracket? Does anyone sell them, or are the 1 piece connected to the steering knuckle? Can I re drill and put another helicoil in? Will it hold?
i have a 2002 chevy s10 v6 2wd. im doing the driver side front brakes and rotor also caliper change. everything is all done and ready to be tighten down, i got the top bolt for the caliper on and tight but the bottom bolt will not reach female thread and tighten? any ideas
Replaced the ball joints and bushings last week and found that one of the holes on the right side knuckle were stripped. I'll try the over-sized self-tapping pin. Does anyone know of a link to a video showing how to properly do it? Thanks.
Great video, but chvydrptop saved my ass close to 100 dollars. If you have this problem then go to NAPA and pick up an over sized caliper bolt. I only needed to get one and I was able to re-thread both holes and reuse the one existing bolt that wasn't mangled. Beauty fix. Big thanks to @chvydrptop and DTASmtech
Tried the over sized bolt kits, I know damn well this spring coil shit wont hold, , seen too many of them come apart. what I want to know is...Can we change the spindles/ steering knuckle from the 97 -2004 variety to the older more sturdy ones from the 96 and before Dakota?
***** no, I just lost a caliper and my BRAKES! last week using those things, sometimes they work ok...for a while.... left side has held up fine,. the right side however has not. the surprise of NO BRAKES as you soon realize your truck is dragging one caliper and slung the brake pads off to god knows where, while doing you damn best to keep from hitting anything with one hand on the steering wheel, one on the parking brake release handle, and a JAMMING foot on the parking brake in timed pulses to prevent lock up, i was damn happy I just made it home without hitting anything or anyone. I had my whole family in the truck when it just let loose without so much as a clue! ..I have a new idea to fix it for good though, I found out the 99 full size Dodge uses a similar set up but MUCH larger bolts and steel sleeves that the calipers ride and slide on Im going to tap the holes to 11 mil course thread to match the fullsize Dodge caliper bolts. that bolt kit is available over the counter at most any parts house. the problem as I see it, is that cast iron knuckle is too soft, WAY too soft for such a small bolt size and or tiny threaded pins, the calipers are too damn heavy to withstand bumpy old paved and especially unpaved roads. ideally I will weld in place a STEEL threaded insert. and THAT will fix it forever, that cast iron is too damn soft to handle the weight of those calipers on the end of two tiny pins, that act like "pry bars" constantly trying to relieve Dakota owners of their calipers , brake pads and quite possibly our lives! ...I will say this, this is the ONLY problem Ive ever had with this truck. I love My Dakota RT ...but dang, I would have expected something like this to be a RECALL!... come on Chrysler Corp, and Mopar ! for the first time in a long while, you disappoint me. pardon my rant, good luck with yours. take care and if you find a better way to handle this , chime in anytime.
+alleny123 I agree, I have the same problem and I wondered why did the knuckle strip out and not the pin? I would think the knuckle would be harder. not a good setup
They make a step up tapping bolt for the dodge... seams to be softer metal than than a 70's ford that they don't even supply the new knuckle for at the parts house lol nice work on the helicoil though.
mine stripped out. 1997 dakota 4x4 passenger side knuckle caliper bracket bottom bolts. this is prolly the same problem all 30,000 ppl who watched this video had lol. i will be welding the hole and tapping back to 9mm x 1.25.
+stephen reiss Yeah you can get those at other auto parts stores too. The problem with these self tappers (at least the ones I bought at Advanced Auto) is the new "oversized" threads aren't that oversized so after a couple brake jobs they start getting loose and floppy until they now don't have any metal to grab into. So now I'm at the point where I need to Heli coil or Time-Sert both holes. Some people say Time-Sert is better (and it looks better) so I'll check to see if I can get this M9 1.25 in Time Sert.
I need to know how you do it for a 98 Durango if anybody watch this video please help me I'm not really a mechanic but I want to learn to do it on my own so I had to pay too much
You should never ever ever use helicoils on an item that is safety oriented. Always use the oversize pin kit. it is the only safe way to do this. If you put a helicoil in they could rust out and fall out of the hole. Again, NEVER NEVER NEVER use a helicoil on a brake safety component. it is not safe and does not have the rating that the oversize will have.
Great video. For the life of me I couldn't find the right size but at any hardware store so I didn't know what size kit I needed. 9x1.25. Great, Thanks for the video.
Wow thumbs up for your video! I have the same problem with the driver side knuckle. I never heard of those heli coils before until now. Thank you for the video. I can now fix this problem with out buying a new knuckle that will probably do the same thing again. Thumps up and will subscribe!
