Originally Posted by
Nightshade
Helicoils are great for straight pull or clamping applications but not side load.
This may be true, but I bet it would still hold on a pedal. Even if it didn't it wouldn't just "snap off" or anything catastrophic like that. Most likely it would just gradually work it's way loose and be detected long before it fell off. It would be worth a try in my book, but only if I was doing the repair myself. Paying a shop to repair it would probably cost almost as much as paying them to replace it.