Garage Door Opener Track and Header Height

[m3shark]

Hi everyone,

I am installing a garage door opener in my garage and have a question about the height of the header bracket and rail relative to the top of the door tracks.

The directions say that the header bracket should be 2 inches above the top of the door tracks and then the opener unit positioned at a height so that the rail ends up parallel to the tracks.

My question is, can I install the rail/header higher than that as long as I still run it parallel? The reason I ask is because the rafters in my garage are significantly higher, and I would the opener to be mounted as close to the rafters as possible, rather than hanging down really low.

There appears to be plenty of length on the door arm. If I were to install the rail at 2 inches above the tracks, then I would end up using the shortest bolt holes on the arm. So it seems to me that I could mount the rail higher and simply use holes lower on the rail.

Mounting it at 2 inches, would mean the the top of the opener is hanging 16 inches from the bottom of my rafter. I'm think moving the rail up 4in so that the opener is only hanging down 12in would be reasonable. There is 7in of adjust-ability on the door arm.

Is there some reason that I can not do this?

Thanks!

 

[kramarj]

That will work just fine.

 

[Jlbc212]

That will work just fine.

Just make sure that the additional length of the connecting arm won't prevent the door from reaching the fully open position.

 

[upndown]

I always use a rule of thumb 2 1/2" above center bearing bracket. Also I keep the motor end a little below level, this way the natural tendency is for the operator arm to push up slightly on the top section when starting the down cycle.

If you mount the opener too high it creates not good possibilities. The worst being trashing your top section!

Follow directions! Good luck.

 

[gnpenning]

4" will work. We install at 3"

As mentioned if you go to high with out using a longer track you may not be able to adjust your door all the way open.