Hello folks, my latest misadventure is a stripped rear hub. Photo here:
https://imgur.com/a/Lx0BEnz

I just purchased this wagon a few months ago, and this is the first time I've removed the rear wheels. So, good thing it wasn't my fault I guess.

Anyway, from what I understand rear hubs are awful to replace. Also, the rest of the threads are ok.
Instead, can I just tap a bigger hole and get a larger lugnut to match? From what I understand, inserts can be used too, but I have never used one before.

Any wisdom, from folks that have delt with this would be appreciated!

A larger tapped hole means a larger hole in your wheel too, and forever remembering which is which. I have one odd stud like this on my old 1-ton that someone messed up decades ago. This is what they call "a crappy solution"

A helicoil grabs onto the bolt too much and isn't an ideal solution for something like this that you want to remove regularly and reinstall.

There are solid walled inserts like "time-sert" that are a better choice. However are you well equipped to drill and tap for one? If you drill off at an angle, it'll mess everything up. Best to pull the hub and do it on a drill press, if you can.

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1993 300D 2.5L Turbo

Dang, too bad you are on west coast...

Id go to pullapart and grab a 123/126 assembly and call it good.
Easy to just swap entire trailing arm assembly over. Emergency brake cable is the trickiest to deal with.
Dont lose original rotor, or brake caliper. The wagon is different from the other cars.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Two viable solutions are as mentioned:

1. Drill and use a TimeSert and from then forward no impact guns and use a torque wrench when tightening the lug bolts.

2. Get a used replacement control arm and hub assembly.

A third, consider taking it to a machine shop if you aren't comfortable with drilling it straight. Some may be willing to work with the hub on the car. Unless you have the tools and are a very experienced DIY'r I'd suggest staying away from disassembling and replacing the hub, that is why we suggest replacing it with a used arm and hub assembly if a Time Sent won't work. Even that arm and hub isn't fun to swap; but, it is doable.

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Folks, thanks for all your great replies. I appreciate it.

-tapping to a larger size: although not ideal, I don’t see this as a bad option. I’ll just paint the bigger bolt bright red, so know where it goes. It’s hidden behind a hubcap anyway.
If I proceeded down this route, how hard would it be to tap the existing hole?

-agree on disassembling the hub. Looks awful, worst option.

-timesert seems great, but, I am not experienced with inserts. I would be willing to purchase the necessary kit however.

-replacing the trailing arm would work also. So, it sounds like only the rotor and caliper are unique to the wagon? The rest of the assembly swaps over?

I'd try a thread insert first, they are not difficult to use but obviously it is your call/risk. If the insert doesn't work it can still be tapped larger.

I know for sure the hub bearing assembly is different on a W124 wagon vs. a sedan; but, I don't know about W,123. I'd look up parts and if the bearings are the same it should work. I'd venture that a forum member might have one for sale.

I don't think tapping the hub after drilling it the correct size would be difficult.

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

123 and early 126 (pre 86) are the same trailing arm and hub.
Even the emergency brake cables are same length.
Just a few bolts to remove.

The hub is a ROYAL pain to remove, and new parts are required to reinstall... special procedure to set the crush strain, etc...
I have several spare trailing arms stored for when one of mine fails...

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Thanks all, I am going to try an insert or tapping a larger hole first. If I screw it up worse, off to the yard for a trailing arm assembly. A yard about 45 minutes from here has an early coupe and early sedan right now.

Regarding tapping bigger: I found an older thread with the same issue, and the following lugbolt from an Audi was recommended: M14x1.5 lug bolt with 39mm (+/-1mm) shank and R12 or R13 head.
Can anyone confirm? I can easily measure the shank size, but not sure how to measure the R12 or R13 head.

Regarding timesert: It seems that keeping it straight is the issue. Timesert sells a tap guide, however. I suppose the big question is: can a guy with average skills properly use the insert with that handy guide, while it's still installed on the car?

I know it's ideal to find a machine shop to do the work for me. The issue I have been having in the last few years, however, is less and less shops willing to work with consumers on classic cars. For example, not a single hydraulic shop around here (San Diego) was willing to rebuild my oil cooler lines a few months back. I suspect machine shops won't want to either.

You should be able to drill it straight enough. Put loooooong bolts into a couple of other lug holes as visual guides. Have an able assistant watch the alignment of the drill from the side whilst drilling. Tapping to a larger size will require just as much straighteness.

__________________
"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Larger thread and bolt means you will have to drill out the hole in the wheel as well.

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Check to see if TimeSert has a maximum torque value and compare it to the wheel lug bolt torque spec. The TimeSert torque spec. should meet or exceed the lug bolt torque spec.

__________________
"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Remember the lug bolt seats on a taper, so if you drill out your wheel for the Audi bolt, you also need to confirm that the Audi bolt has the same taper. Seating on the wrong taper will completely mess up the torque specs to the point where that bolt might as well not be even installed.

Like Sugar Bear says if you are going to try to drill straight, drill for Time-sert as it's a far better fix.

If you have access to a small mag-base drill either borrowed or rented it's possible you could mount it to the hub and use that to drill straight. You could then chuck the tap in it for alignment purposes only

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1993 300D 2.5L Turbo

Why not just weld in a stud and that will be the easiest wheel to mount onto? Long term swap it out if you really wanted to?

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92 e300d2.5t
01 e320
05 cdi
85 chev c10

Thanks again for everyone's responses, I am still researching and mulling this around a bit. Tonight, I pulled the wheel back off and double-checked everything.

With new bolts, the rest of the thread holes are ok, I may run a thread chaser down them but they spin freely and torque to spec fine.

The bad one, however, is really bad. Measured with my cheap caliper, the ID of the good holes is 9.5mm, the ID of the bad hole is 11mm - so a lot of material missing.

At this point, I think drilling oversized is my best bet. If I screw it up, oh well, same outcome of heading to the yard. However, I have no idea how to research what size to tap, and what bolt to use.
If someone has the time, and know-how, could you tell me what type of lugbolt I need to tap for? It needs to be:

-Greater than 11mm shaft diameter
-R12 or R13 head.
-The correct length for steelies

Thanks again all!

That's.... a really good idea actually. I don't weld, but perhaps I could find someone willing to do that for me.