higher rails for 2 car garage door

[PoorOwner]

I wanted to know if the typical 2 car garage door can be raised, or need like high jack or whatever which cost a lot of money?

The reason is that it is sitting at like 84" or so, but the door itself is old and has metal ribs that is 3" and points down when opened. When I get the SUV tires just 0.5" off the ground, I have 5" left before hitting the metal ribs. I am not able to use the lift to go to a second lock, you can imagine just about any vehicle with suspension just lifted off is terrible amount of space underneath to work on.

Well, why don't I close the garage door. Well the vehicle is too long, if I am able to close the door then I have no room to walk in front of the bumper.

Backing in so the front windshield is under the garage door should solve the problem for a bit.

The door is old and will be replaced soon so I wanted to know if they can customize it with new rails. (new door means new rails, right?) The opener I have is a belt drive one that is mounted fairly low as well. If this can be done then that would speed up the purchase.

 

[matt_i]

I have all the parts to set the curve higher and bring the track up higher. Its only a straight track section I bought, I'll angle out from the wall by around 1/4" to 1/2" at the top so the door does not drag at the top edge of the frame, then the curve set higher, then raise the supports.

No time to do this since I am framing currently. Its a welding and bracket bending project as I see it.

 

[Marcm157]

A standard headroom garage door can be converted to a high lift door by changing out the tracks. I had it done to an older door in a house I used to own. How high are your ceilings? It was fairly expensive if I remember correctly.

 

[jonw9]

One alternative would be utilizing 32" radius tracks instead of the standard 15" (or 12"). That would gain you roughly 17", and you still should be able to use your existing opener (with some modifications). You will still likely require a new spring though.

This is a bit cheap than a full high lift, saving a couple hundred maybe.

 

[pepi]

Or you could do the work on the driveway, unless it has a steep grade of course.

 

[vision8]

I made my 8' X 8' OHD go almost straight up to the ceiling ( almost 16' ) by sloping the lower track further from the wall and using the horizontal track to extend the door track vertically. Hardest part was relocating the cable drums on the torsion shaft with the torsion spring at the roof line ( awkward and damn heavy ) but it works . No bigger radii track needed just longer cable.

 

[Milton Shaw]

i went with a commercial roll up door so that nothing on the door was over the vehicle. I also changed the old single garage door to a roll up also. Lots more room in the garage overhead and I really didn't care if they looked like a storage shed, the advantages outweighed the appearance by a lot. The 10x10 door in my main shop did get an opener that works on the jackshaft -- so the ceiling is open.