do helacoils work?
11-17-2008, 03:35 PM
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Re: do helacoils work?
A chat with HondaRules made me realize that I should clarify my above statement..
We use Helicoils on some of our race stuff for the same reason, especially the aluminum uprights we cast.. The threads are larger than the aluminum would be by itself, so the insert can be stronger than the base metal, BUT that's assuming proper installation with the right tools and you that know exactly who will be working on whatever it is. They're highly susceptible to over-torquing, and Timeserts are much better in that respect. We don't use them on engines for some of those reasons, but we use them on a lot of other stuff.. I have seen some strange things with them, like the entire coil twisting and changing the thread geometry (usually overtorque), and there are some inherent problems with drill and tap tolerances. Helicoils are cheap and easy so for general use they're great, but I'm just too gunshy to really want to use them in head stud repair or something like that if there are better alternatives available.
They're used a lot in OEM castings and in aerospace stuff, so Helicoils aren't a bad insert, but for a head I'll take a Timesert which reduces the associated risk of over-torquing failures.
So I guess what I'm saying is that I know Helicoils are used a lot, and will be used for years to come, but given the choice I'd rather use some of the other stuff on the market for this particular application (head studs).
We use Helicoils on some of our race stuff for the same reason, especially the aluminum uprights we cast.. The threads are larger than the aluminum would be by itself, so the insert can be stronger than the base metal, BUT that's assuming proper installation with the right tools and you that know exactly who will be working on whatever it is. They're highly susceptible to over-torquing, and Timeserts are much better in that respect. We don't use them on engines for some of those reasons, but we use them on a lot of other stuff.. I have seen some strange things with them, like the entire coil twisting and changing the thread geometry (usually overtorque), and there are some inherent problems with drill and tap tolerances. Helicoils are cheap and easy so for general use they're great, but I'm just too gunshy to really want to use them in head stud repair or something like that if there are better alternatives available.
They're used a lot in OEM castings and in aerospace stuff, so Helicoils aren't a bad insert, but for a head I'll take a Timesert which reduces the associated risk of over-torquing failures.
So I guess what I'm saying is that I know Helicoils are used a lot, and will be used for years to come, but given the choice I'd rather use some of the other stuff on the market for this particular application (head studs).
Last edited by Fabrik8; 11-17-2008 at 03:39 PM.
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