12tons vs Bolt Thread Repair Using Time-Sert, Heli-Coil, J-B Weld & More

We announced we'd be testing these last month and you guys provided brand suggestions. That said make sure to check out some great testing on these in aluminum here which is good data to have as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jknMrFOGMOQ Our testing of head studs and mention we'll test thread repairs can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlfVt1wqr40 Unfortunately we have full time jobs and can't edit videos and visualizations to get episodes out as quick as we'd like to sometimes. More testing and more sources is always better though, regardless of how our fragile ego might feel - we all need 10X the channels doing stuff just like this!

Gotta admit, it's pretty cool to see 2 different channels post videos about similar products on the same day. I know there wasn't anything intentional about that, but in the future it'd be cool to see a collaboration between you guys and Project Farm. I have a lot of respect for both channels since you guys don't bullshit anything in your tests.

The PF and TTC testing methods were complementary. I appreciated watching both back-to-back. Surprisingly interesting for a product category I wasn't that knowledgeable about.

TTC AND Project Farm testing Heli-Coils on the same day? Collab coming when? 😉

You can adjust your pump pressure +10% with no drama. Sometimes it just takes a few extra beans to get that happy ending.

Just watched both your video and the one from Project Farm and fully appreciate both data sets. The fact that you both posted at the same time and had similar results from different approaches and products was pretty fantastic to be honest. Keep up the amazing work! And trust me when I say, even if somebody gets a similar idea, you guys to a fantastic job of presentation and filming. If I see somebody trying to replicate your tests, I would still watch all your videos because they are so well done.

I'd love to see this redone but with cast aluminum instead of cast iron... At least in our shop we don't often run into cast iron blocks losing their head bolt threads but we run into aluminum block issues all the time...

I think those locking inserts didn't play nice with cast iron. Those keensert-type inserts usually warn you against using them in brittle materials because those locking keys are trying to displace material when you drive them in. The other inserts just required cutting new threads, which when the insert is installed, doesn't exert a ton of stress into the receiving material. The damage on the failed billet look like it's exclusively in the material rather than the insert itself. I've also seen those inserts used in a lot of aerospace parts, but they're generally aluminum as you mentioned, which has enough ductility to make it work

I use Perma coi and Heli coil at work and have never had an issue. We’re usually using them in spindles or knuckles for suspension mounts or caliper bolts. I can confirm that at least once, that I’m aware of, one of my techs forgot righty tighty lefty losey, and wound up snapping a 14mm bolt, 19mm head, for a caliper bracket in half. It was only after I managed to get the bolt out that I realized it was a hole that we had previously repaired with a Perma Coil. The coil was still in perfect shape and is still in that vehicle today. That was the day I learned just how strong coil type repairs can be. I’m actually happy to know that it wasn’t a fluke. Thanks for the awesome video!

Manufacturing/machining job worker here: The Helicoil install tool is typically best used for making sure the coil doesn't cause scratching on your part, and helps align and keep it set right for tightly-machined threading. Most of the reasons we use it at my job is because we're working fairly soft aluminum, and these tools keep them from screwing the threads or chromate up, and help prevent possible cross-threading. Some of the helicoils are 7/8", and those ones come loose enough to slide over 1" insert tools.

This is by far the most hilarious series you have done. Something about dial indicators flying like a blown man-hole cover just cracks me up. Sadly I have a broken rib, so this is also by far the most painful series you have done.

Thank you for another tremendously useful video. You can imagine the horror of stripping the threads out of the drain plug hole in a cast aluminum crankcase and the subsequent elation of fixing it with a Heli-coil. I still remember how much more smoothly the plug screwed in to those stainless steel threads 40 years later.

I love myself some Project Farm, but why he chose to use a class 8.8 / Grade 5 bolt for his tests perplexes me. His results for the inserts all looked the same because the bolt broke every time, isn't that lost data? This video took that variable out by using the L19 stud and we saw the difference.

The Time-Sert option looks like the best choice for an assembly that has to be frequently bolted and un-bolted. The locking insert is like the faster and less critical version. I've always liked using properly installed Heli-Coils, but you can never say that too loudly or else the "Time-Sert or nothing" crowd comes out of nowhere and starts yelling. Finally some real data to quiet them down on coil inserts being supposedly for hacks.

Wow...pretty impressive what cheap little thread repairs can withstand. Wasnt expecting those results. Even more shocking the time serts didnt do as well. You always hear those are the best. Just goes to show you never really know until you actually test them...for science. Thats what makes your channel stand out over all the others, the proof is in the pudding, cant just listen to what someone tells you thats never tested the stuff before. Great vid bud. Keep up the awesome work for the gearhead community...and science haha

You should use a simple lever to save your indicators. As long as the sides are equally distant it will turn the upwards motion into downwards of the same intensity and when the bolt breaks the lever moves away from the indicator instead of just putting the indicator in the line of fire.

Would’ve preffered to see the jb weld left to cure with the head stud left in the hole rather than drilling and tapping threads. Ideally just shoved straight into damaged threads and bolt shoved in after.

Won't lie, I was giddy to watch both of y'alls videos. I had a rude welcome to Heli-Coil kits when I first bought an ATV. The really thin metal that is threaded to hold on the skid plates rusts out super quick, so I had to use a kit on it and learn to cover that thing in oil/grease. Fast forward to next ATV, it came with a broken bolt that holds on the exhaust shroud and instead of messing with Yamaha warranty, etc. I just used the same Heli-Coil kit from the other ATV as it was the same size bolt. Installed with red loc-tite and its been good since about 2007.

This and the PF tests made me feel okay about the relatively cheap set I bought. I wanted something which had most things I was likely to need, but since I've only needed a few of these things in my lifetime (so far), I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a set. Thanks for another interesting video.

Great summary, and classy response to your friendly competition. Regarding the Timesert, I wonder if it might have done better if the bolt was threaded right down to the bottom of the hole. The way it broke suggests the bolt may not have used all the threads, breaking away where the tip of the bolt ended.... Even so, it sounds like a good real world comparison, since we try to never thread a bolt all the way down, leaving a little room for debris and variance in length and depth.