Has Your Garage Door Derailed?
Fix it with the help of this video…
With the frequent opening and closing of our garage doors, it is common that it will get off track in the long run.
Whenever that happens, instead of getting frustrated, we should be ready to do the fix.
In this article, we will discover how to fix a garage door off track.
But before getting into the steps, let us know the reasons behind such problem.
Why a Garage Door Gets Off Track
The following are possible reasons why a garage door gets derailed.
1. Bad Rollers
Rollers are prone to wear and tear.
As time passes, instead of providing ease in the rolling up and down of the garage door, they can become worn out and cause the problem of getting the door of the tracks.
2. Damaged Doors
When the door is damaged, there can be misalignments that will cause the door to go off track.
3. Broken Spring
A broken spring will cause uneven lifting of the heavy door.
This will add unnecessary tension to the remaining working spring and will create an imbalance in the carrying of the door’s weight. With this, the door may get off track.
4. Loose Hardware
The frequent rolling up and own of the garage door will cause loosening of bolts and screws.
This could put stress on other parts of the garage door system and could lead the door to going off track.
5. Obstructed Track
When one or both tracks are obstructed and the door is forced to close or open, it will also force the door to go off track.
Being able to determine the cause of the problem will help us with an easier fix.
Steps to Fixing a Garage Door Off Track
Now it is time to discuss the steps on how to fix a garage door off track.
Simple follow the process enumerated below.
1. Turn off or disengage the opener.
To do this, we need to pull-on the string that we can find suspended from the console for door opener controls.
This will disconnect the opener and will allow us to open and close the door of the garage manually.
2. Keep the garage door open.
With the opener already disengaged, manually open the garage door.
Keep lifting until one of the rollers lines up with the track.
It is very important the door stays up throughout the entire process.
We may use a ladder to keep the garage door from moving.
Vice grips or locking pliers will also help.
3. Bring the wheels back to the track.
From the track, locate where the roller lost track.
In that spot, we need to open the track using a pair of pliers.
Inside the opened spot in the track, we will pull the off-track rollers back in place and then close the track.
Usually, the track will be deformed.
We can bring it back into its right shape with the use of a rubber mallet.
A wooden mallet may also be used.
4. Check for proper alignment manually.
After having fixed all the rollers, we need to check if the rollers have a smooth operation.
We do this manually.
Next, we also need to try opening and closing the door manually.
This is to ensure that the door opens and closes correctly.
We also need to observe the balance of the door when it rolls up and down.
If upon checking, the track is still not aligned, we need to repeat the first four steps until the correct alignment is achieved.
5. Check the automated operation.
After ensuring that the garage door is no longer off track after the manual checks, we reactivate the garage opener to test the non-manual operation.
Using the remote control, we will try to close and open the door.
If it is already working well, then we say – problem solved!
The above steps in fixing a garage door when it goes off track is easy if we have the right tools and, more importantly, skills.
Checking our garage door system regularly will prevent unexpected problems.
We can also contact garage door professionals to properly do the necessary maintenance of our garage door system.
Also, if we are not confident enough in doing the repairs by ourselves, the experts in garage door repairs are just a call away.
