To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Garage Door High Lift!

73blazer

Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2013
Messages
10
Location
The Rustbelt
I recently bought a 14k bendpak auto lift, I have 12' ceilings with 8' doors, but with a car on the lift, the garage door was not usable. So I needed to convert it to high lift!

Requires new springs, drums, cables and an angled vertical track extension. I just wanted to pay someone to do it since I've never messed with a garage door before, I know what I'm like, I'll spend hours researching and looking up stuff, what's needed, reading tutorials...I just wanted to pay someone for once...

I had called 2 different places, first place asked me to give him measurements, he called back the next day with a price, I said when can you do it, he said he'd get back to me and never called back. I called again a week later later and he said "oh yeah..I'm still waiting, umm... on parts...I'll call you when they come in". Never called after another week went by. I called another place, bigger place, they have a showroom, several crews, a guy came out, with his clipboard in hand, took a bunch of measurements, said he had to go back to the office to look up the prices on the springs and drums I need he'll call me the next day. Didn't call, I wait a couple more days, call their office, secretary says she'll make sure he calls me the next morning, never called after another 2 weeks went by.

So, I did what I wanted to pay another to do, started researching what's required, how to do it, I came across this place, DDM Garage Doors . This place has super detailed tutorials, not just on high lift conversion, but just everything and anything related to garage doors. Really nice web page for entering your current setup by door weight or current spring, all your current measurements, and he'll put a kit together for you and UPS out.

So I pulled the trigger on that, submitted their webform, they emailed within an hour after a human tech actually goes over the measurements you submitted, and with the final shipped price. I called and had a few pointed questions, which they promptly knew the exact answers for. They had it in UPS's hands the same day, since their in Chicago and I'm in Michigan, it's 1 day shipping, I had it in my hands the next day. The owner even emailed the answer to one last question I emailed in after I paid, and then gives his cell number as says to call him if you have any issues during installation.

Installed it yesterday with the aide of his super detailed tutorials from assembling the vertial extensions, to how to wind springs to general door adjustment tips... and didn't have so much as any little hitch.

Just can't say enough good about DDM, for a small local West Chicago business, they've gone out of their way to help people near and far. And their website is probably one of the best website's I've come across in a long while, not just on how it's laid out and how the information is presented, but the quality of the content of the information is outstanding.

As a bonus, I saved a few hundred $$$ by doing it myself. Good business needs to be praised these days!! Thank you DDM Garage Doors! If you need any garage door parts and want to know anything about how garage doors work, this is the place to go.

20131110_100118.jpg

20131110_100232.jpg
 
Last edited:
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

32krazy!

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 17, 2012
Messages
54
why do you have to replace the springs and drums and cables? cant you simply install a higher vertical track and reuse all the oem parts higher up the wall? care to share what the cost of this kit was?
 
OP
7

73blazer

Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2013
Messages
10
Location
The Rustbelt
On a normal door, it goes horizontal as soon as it's go up, so that reduces alot of the weight the spring has to carry. On a high lift door, it has to carry the full weight of the door a few feet (27.75" in my case) vertical, before it goes horizontal. So the springs have to be heavier to carry that weight, you need different drums because the outside of a high lift drum is much bigger diameter giving the drum a bit more leverage to lift vertical, and you need longer cables because the lift hardware is up against the ceiling and not just above the door header.
Kit was just over $200 and included 2 new springs (they converted me from 1 spring to 2 for alot of reasons), new cable drums, new cables, and high lift bracketry. I also bought a jackshaft opener from them (Liftmaster 8500) (another $335).. but not installed that yet, I want to find an older version of that same opener (the 3800) which doesn't have the new Security 2.0 **** that isn't compatible with anything existing, like homelink'd cars or older openers.
 
Last edited:
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

pattenp

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 4, 2008
Messages
10,175
Location
Virginia - USA
You don't need an older 3800, there is a repeater to communicate with homelink with the 8500.

https://secure.homelink.com/homelink-repeater-kit-detail

HomeLink® Repeater Kit
HomeLink® is available in many brands of vehicles, and is identified by a single red LED and 3 buttons; some models may have a "house" image on the panel. On mirror applications, the house may be absent but there is still just one LED. Most older vehicles and select newer models will need a repeater to upgrade the vehicle to be compatible with the new Security+ 2.0™ radio code. Johnson Controls has a website to determine vehicle compatibility; go to www.homelink.com and follow the steps to program a vehicle to see if you need the kit.
 
Last edited:
OP
7

73blazer

Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2013
Messages
10
Location
The Rustbelt
Yeah, I did see those, but its a rather hokey setup. You have to keep plugged in this device, you have store this special "repeater opener" somewhere and make sure not to lose it, otherwise you can't program any device to the repeater, and, it defeats the whole purpose of the security 2.0 if it simply allows older device to operate the repeater which will operate the opener!!
I just don't like the whole idea if it all. What was wrong with the mid 90's and up openers with rolling codes. From what I understand security 2.0 has rolling codes plus rolling frequencies (3 of them I think). But, really, when is the last time you heard of a garage getting broken into because they defeated the rolling code mechanism?
 

AndyL

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2012
Messages
1,371
Location
Vancouver
Never, but range has been an issue in recent years - the triple frequency really does give you better range and futureproofs (kinda like all those red button liftmasters that stopped working when Homeland reclaimed 390mhz back in 05).

I'm not 100% sure, but I've heard some range issues have started popping up with the new 802.11AC and some of the purple buttons. Haven't looked into it much, but there's been a comment or two float around that they stopped with a router upgrade...
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom