Door opener straight arm

[Marcusu]

Long time reader...first time poster!

We bought this house about 18 months ago, and I wanted to get my F-250 FX4 in the garage today to work under it. I needed just another inch of clearance at the door, and noticed the door wasn’t all the way up. I was able to unhook the arm that connects the door to the trolly/quick-release, and push the door up another 3 inches or so. I put a clamp on the track to hold it, and did what I needed to do for the day.
After the fact, I’m thinking...”how can I get that door to open up more all the time?” Then I look at the installation instructions for Liftmaster 8165, which indicates that I should have a curved section and straight section of arm bolted together. I only have one straight section. (Guessing this was a sloppy / lazy installer?)
Sooo...I have a question maybe someone knows the answer to. If I order the curved bar, and add it in, will I be able to shorten the distance between the door and the trolly, and thereby open the door that last couple of inches before the trolly hits the stop?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Jlbc212]

The simple answer is yes, but you could also try just cutting that straight arm to make it shorter. If it was my door I would get the curved arm and I would connect it to the door below the horizontal metal strut.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Try adjusting the up traven on your door.
It appears they attached your opener to the top of the top panel so didn't need the curved section.

 

[CraigStu]

Try adjusting the up traven on your door.
It appears they attached your opener to the top of the top panel so didn't need the curved section.

That was going to be my question. What stops your opener from going further as is now?

 

[Marcusu]

The trolly is about as far back as it can go. It’s about 1/2” from hitting the bolt that I assume acts as a stop to keep the trolly from hitting the motor. (Picture attached...you can also see how the door isn’t all the way up)

I was reading online about not having the curved bar, and ending up with bowing, but I’m admittedly not visualizing how curving the bar out would help with that...it seems like it would put the movement force lower on the door, pulling it inward more than lifting it. If I cut the bar shorter, that would increase the angle at the start of the lift, to more of a lift, and less of a sideways pull...not sure of the mechanical effect there? (Forgive me...I may be overthinking it....I’m a son of an electrical engineer, and a pilot myself, but admittedly bad at physics.)

So just cut the bar? Or is there a maintenance/safety/legal advantage to getting the “as designed” parts? (I will very likely rent/sell this house in the next couple of years so)

 

[rslaback]

The purpose of the curved section is to be able to go around the top stiffener rail when the opener is mounted in the middle of the top panel. Yours is mounted to the very top edge (which I have never seen before) so you really don't need that curve.

It looks like you should be able to cut that bar off some and then just adjust both your up and down travel. However, before doing so, I would disconnect the door from the opener and close it. Then adjust your travel all the way down and let the opener "close". Then check that however much you cut off you will still be able to get the door to fully close with a shorter bar.