458 Stripped titanium wheel bolt/hub - can the wheel hub threads be repaired/tapped?

Looks to me like they simply got over tightened. I’d say it’s lucky you were able to remove them. The hub seems to have won so you should be able to clean the Ti debris out of the threads with a chaser or tap.

 

I'd try chasing the threads on the bolt as well as the hub (although the bolt may well be too far gone).

 

Just wondering...Were the Ti bolts from Ferrari, Hill Engineering, or eBay/other?

 

Those bolts are toast. Does hill provide a torque recommendation?

 

TI is softer than Steel. The steel hub might be OK. It is possible that you got a shard of aluminum of the wheel or Ti from the bolt galled into the steel hub. Sometimes this can almost weld the part together where destruction is the way to recovery. Use no force in the future and you should be OK. Honestly this is a very rookie move. Not to insult you but wheels and wheel torque are important things especially with a car capable of nearly 200mph. As a racer we take great pains to keep our wheels on the cars and it isn't as simple as it may appear.

Using a tap is a good thing but it must be done with gentle knowledgeable hands. To not only get the tap through properly but ensure that the hub is not destroyed. 4 good lugs on a 5 lug pattern isn't enough. Once you get the tap though hopefully it is just cleaning out aluminum or Ti and not cutting steel. After the tap I would carefully visually inspect the threads and screw in a good Ti lugbolt and compare what that feels like to the other holes. If this cut hole is hogged out and bolt has play in the hole that hub is done. If the hub hole passes then bolt on a wheel and see if you can get to torque. The wrecked Ti bolt goes in the trash. You aren't saving that.

Read up on using a tap. There are critical things like using a light tough, proper cutting oil, insert some to resistance and back out and clean the tap, rinse and repeat. You can destroy a hole chasing it with a tap if you do it wrong. Before you put a tap to it I would use a sharp 120 to 90 degree pick and run it through the hole threads because it can't cut but it can pick out and dislodge a dissimilar metal smeared on the steel. Once clean see if you can passively get a lugbolt through. You are less likely to cause damage that way.

 

Informative post, I have the Hill engineering Ti bolts also. Will be checking the torque specs soon when I install my new wheels. Good luck on the repair!!

 

When you reinstall or remove the lug bolts, do it by hand. Don’t use an impact, even to spin them down until snug or remove them. If you do them all by hand you’ll be able to feel if one of them isn’t right.


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Glad you got it sorted and only for the cost of new bolts.

I would have been so mad at myself.... would have thrown my torque wrench at the windscreen, or something similarly unproductive