Modification of garage door possible? - Page 2

OneMoBear · 11-02-2009, 02:14 PM

Interesting! I'll check it out in depth. The second guy I called thought that original quote was hilarious. Said we could get an entire new door installed with the lift for that much. He thought more like $200. He said something about (I was driving . . . ) new drums for the springs possibly . . . ?

I would trust my husband and myself as much as any handyman I've ever encountered

Thanks once again for the info!
Malinda

11-02-2009, 02:34 PM

Look at the Carrier Air V low profile AC. I bought a 15K unit for my last RV on line for about $800 new including shipping. They are much more efficient and quieter and will solve your height problem.

OneMoBear · 11-02-2009, 02:42 PM

Thanks but it's not the AC. If we install the TM lift kit, the ROOF of the TM will hit the tracks. The AC, etc. are between the track and the motor. Only time that will come into play is when one of us has the TM open and the other comes home, not knowing that, hits the button to raise the door and then yeah, big problem

Malinda

11-02-2009, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneMoBear

Thanks but it's not the AC. If we install the TM lift kit, the ROOF of the TM will hit the tracks. The AC, etc. are between the track and the motor. Only time that will come into play is when one of us has the TM open and the other comes home, not knowing that, hits the button to raise the door and then yeah, big problem

Malinda

Will the TM fit between the tracks while the front shell is raised ?? As far as the oops with the door being raised, unplug the garage door opener.......I gotta do that sometimes if I have something in the way, like a vehcle hood open. I also hide the remote if I have the racks on the truck.......don'tcha know that I would forget those puppies are back there.

**Bill** · 11-02-2009, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Interesting! I'll check it out in depth. The second guy I called thought that original quote was hilarious. Said we could get an entire new door installed with the lift for that much. He thought more like $200.

Yup. That was my impression.

Quote:

He said something about (I was driving . . . ) new drums for the springs possibly . . . ?

OK, I lightened up your picture and found that you have torsion springs (mounted sideways and wound around an axle at the top of the door) rather than extension springs (a pair of long stretchy springs running parallel to each side track). I'm not sure why they would require adjustment, but they are easy to tighten a bit if you need to do so for some reason. Certainly no need to replace.

Quote:

I would trust my husband and myself as much as any handyman I've ever encountered

Um, most towns have one or more professional handyman services. Licensed, bonded, insured, the whole bit. Definitely NOT a fly-by-night brother-in-law's-friend's-carpenter sort of thing.

Quote:

Thanks once again for the info!
Malinda

Bill

OneMoBear · 11-02-2009, 04:32 PM

I'm sure we could position it so that would work but then we wouldn't be able to get the car in the garage. We are developing our game plan for the AC / door encounter possibility

The garage door stops if you give it a dirty look so it probably wouldn't really do that much more than give you a heart attack

Keith Wire · 11-02-2009, 05:34 PM

Malinda,

I have read the description of the problem and looked at the picture, but I am confused. Are you trying to raise the garage door opener, or the two garage door tracks on each side of the door, or both?

Many, many years ago I used to install garage door openers. Once I had an install where they had a torsion spring (like yours where it is over the header of the garage door). The spring was in the way of the normal mounting of the opener where it mounts at the header. I had to put it above the spring (again like the one in your picture) but when I did that the arm that connects from the door to the opener track wasn't long enough. What I did was to extend the arm by welding a piece on it...

If all you need to do is raise the garage opener motor/track you might ask your contractor people if that is a possibility.

If that is all you need to do I see no reason to adjust the torsion spring over the garage door. If you (or your husband) do decide to adjust the tension on the torsion spring you must be very careful. I know of two men who didn't know what they were doing and seriously injured themselves when they attempted this.

Hope that helps, Keith

**Bill** · 11-03-2009, 09:28 AM

Keith -

As I recall, you are a hardware guru, so thanks for chiming in on this. For what it's worth, I agree with you, and thanks for the reminder of the danger of adjusting the torsion spring, especially if it is under tension when you adjust. Is it possible to adjust it when the door is up and the tension is off, or is the door itself in the way?

Rather than welding an extension onto the connecting arn, wouldn't it be possible to simply buy another connecting arm, discard the curved piece of the new arm, and bolt the straight piece (using four more bolts) to the existing straight piece to add length? Many of us (including me) don't have access to welding equipment or skills.

Bill

OneMoBear · 11-03-2009, 09:45 AM

It is the track that is the problem. So far my impression has been that if something needs to be raised, it all has to be. I obviously know NOTHING about garage doors.

As I stated right off the bat, this is something we will have done professionally. I'm sure there are really terrific handymen out there but if we aren't willing to do something ourselves we pretty much exclusively hire someone whose profession is specifically what we need done.

Thanks for all the very helpful info. I feel much better prepared to deal with a professional now.

Malinda

Keith Wire · 11-03-2009, 10:07 AM

Bill, You still need the bend in the arm to clear the door as it comes up. You can certainly extend it by bolting another piece of steel the same size.

I see Mailinda says they need to raise the track. I have never done it, but I see no reason it can not be extended (by a professional). The door should not need to be replaced. After all the opening is not being enlarged.

So, Malinda I think you are doing the right thing by checking with several contractors. Explain what you want and listen to their responses. I'm sure you will find someone to do the work reasonably.

Keith