Garage door rollers can be unbelievably very noisy and irritating just as old roller skates do when they get damaged. This is just one of the challenges you can encounter if you have a garage door. This noise is motivation for you to call a professional garage door repair to get rid of the disturbing sound from your garage door.
Garage door roller replacement requires some insights pertaining to the process, which is the purpose of this article.
Nature of Garage Door Rollers
Most garage doors have four or five sections that span the entire width of the garage door opening. These sections are connected with hinges that mount rollers guided on a track on each side of your garage door.
Thus, when you replace garage door rollers, there are three locations that you will work on:
- Top Rollers
- Center Roller
- Bottom Roller
Garage door rollers are under a lot of tension and typically wear out before hinges do so you should never loosen bolts that secure the bottom fixture to the garage door or remove the cable from the bottom fixture. If you fail to do so, it will cause your garage door to cock, jamb, or fall. Again, never unscrew the bottom roller bracket.
Safety Precautions Before Replacing Your Garage Door Rollers
There are dangers that are inherent in garage door repairs specifically in replacing rollers because garage doors are heavy and dangerous when they are not properly supported and stabilized. To prevent accidents, keep this mind:
- Unplug your garage door opener. This is for maximum safety during the replacement process.
- Check if you will need to raise the door a little higher than the upper limit of the opener to relieve spring tension. Use a clamp to stabilize the door so it will not slip or fall.
- Brace up and reinforce the door panels before you unbolt the hinge to prevent sagging and breakage.
Replacing the Three Types of Rollers of Your Garage Door
Replacing a Top Roller
- Close the garage door and disconnect the opener’s electrical cord from the outlet.
- Use a socket set to loosen the bolt that secures the top roller mount to the door and release the roller from the bracket.
- Insert a new roller into the bracket.
- Secure the roller and bracket to the mount.
- Test the operation of the new roller by raising and lowering your garage door.
Replacing a Center Roller from
- Use a 7-inch or 16-inch wrench to remove the nuts tightened on a hinge of a wooden garage door. Use a 3-inch or 8-inch wrench to pen hex headed screws on a steel garage door.
- Remove bolts with a hummer.
- Pull the hinges and remove the rollers.
- Insert the shaft of the new roller in the sleeve of the hinge.
- Insert the wheel roller. Align the holes in the rollers to the hinges of your garage door.
- Tighten all screws with a wrench.
Replacing Bottom Rollers
- Remove all tension from the garage door cable attached to the bottom roller bracket.
- Open the garage door completely so you can see the track completely.
- Use heavy pliers to pry the track slightly open (about 2 inches) to ease the roller wheel out.
- Manually lower the door to position the roller’s wheel inside the track you opened up.
- Use a screwdriver to pry the door out of the track.
- Slide the roller out of the bracket.
- Slide in the new roller into the old bracket. You can use Lithium grease to help the rollers spin smoothly.
- When the roller is in place, pop the garage door back into the track.
- Check if your garage door moves along the track smoothly. If it does, you can bend the track back into place.
- Lubricate your garage door track and hinges to keep them in great shape.
Hiring a Professional Garage Door Repair in Gresham to Replace your Garage Door Rollers
The bottom garage door rollers are the most risky to replace because the spring cable carrying the weight and tension of the garage door requires the skill and experience of a professional.
You can trust a garage door repair professional in Gresham to replace your door rollers so that they will operate safely and smoothly.