fixing / replacing SPD cleat housing?

first, i apologize if this has been posted somewhere...but i've searched around for a bit to no avail, so here goes...

i can't tell if i can swap out the cleat housing in my shoe -- i noticed in my spin class that my one shoe was slipping a lot, and low + behold, the hardware holding the cleat onto the shoe isn't staying tight in the sole (and at one point, the entire cleat part fell out during a sprint...ouch on the knee!).

the housing is stripped or damaged -- in any event, it's not holding the screw to keep the cleat part in place anymore.

can i replace the cleat housing, or is it time for new shoes? i've pulled up the insole to see if the floor of the shoe is removable, but it doesn't seem so .it seems as though there is an area that could be cut away, but i really just have no idea what i'm doing here...

any advice would be appreciated!

Sounds like you are probably in new shoe territory.

A random idea you might try though (untested by me) is to try a different set of hardware (screws) to see if it's the screw threads that are worn instead of the shoe. Or try some thread tape or thread lock to see if that will hold the screws up in there (just make sure you set it right the first time!). These might work if it's only minorly stripped and just not holding up to forces over time. If it's really well stripped I doubt this will help much.

Depends on the shoe, I think, and it's not clear to my (very visually-oriented) brain how yours are configured. Some of my shoes use a little steel plate that's threaded to hold the cleat in place. The shoe itself only has little slots cut. Those steel plates should come with any new pair of cleats.

Can you post a pic?

to you both for the replies...

martian -- the screws themselves are fine, it's the housing one screws the cleat into on the shoe that are not allowing me to secure it. i had considered trying threadlock, but i can't get the screw to even go in enough to lock it down. i sense you're right in that it's new shoe time. these weren't that high end to begin with.

becky - sure - i will try to when i get home...as soon as i posted this i thought to myself, hey, a pic would do well here...

=)