Considering the price of the oversize pins, I would Heli-coil it. The Heli-coil kit comes with enough inserts to do all four of them if you need to. Much better deal, IMO.

 

If heli coiled, would oem pins work or would you need to get pins to match heli coil innards?

 

The stock ones would fit.

 

Killer asked my exact question, so I believe the thread size is M9 x 1.25

Thanks Tom, this is what I needed to know.

I found the helicoil kit on amazon for $35 + $5 shipping, and with the cost of new pins I'm looking at about half the cost compared to the over sized ones.

 

found this while researching my issue. It for a 97 but ...

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/43814309/051181.pdf

 

Thanks Killer, I found a ton of threads for 97/98 Dakotas and they all used a M9x1.25 tap.

I compared the caliper pin part #'s on Rockauto for 97/98 and my 02 and they are the same.

Helicoil is in the mail and should have it early next week.

 

Had same problem on my '01 Intrepid. I'm pretty sure it happened when I had a tie rod end replaced--lazy cruds probably took off the caliper and put it back on with an impact wrench. Like someone else said, the torque specs on these are less than 20 lb-ft.
Anyway, I took the car to a local mechanic when I couldn't get either the old pins or new ones to bite. They put in helicoils and used Loctite green. Said it would never come loose, but you'd never get the pins out again; they'd break off and you'd end up drilling them out.

 

I ended up helicoiling the threads - the size was M9x1.25mm

I bough all new stock sized pins and I'm pretty sure they came with antiseize - not loctite. I'm surprised they put loctite on your Intrepid even after helicoiling.

Anyway, thanks for the tips!

 

I had the same problem with my 2001 Dakota 2WD Crew Cab 3.9V6
Thanks for the advice to get an over sized pin for my stripped out steering knuckle. Today I purchased the one suggested from Advance Auto and it worked great. I didn't even remove the tire just turned the wheel to one side to gain better access!