How to Adjust Sliding Barn Door?

[danieldd]

I've got these 2 large sliding doors on my Morton Building and the left one drags a little on the concrete. I need to raise it up a little bit. I loosened the jam nut at the top of the door and attempted to adjust the threaded bolt, but it simply won't budge in either direction. It is my understanding the threaded bolt has a direct connection to the overhead trolley that runs in a rail and by loosening/tightening the threaded bolt will allow the door to raise or lower.

At least that is what I can surmise.

I fear the threaded bolt is frozen. Any ideas as to how I can approach this?

 

[danieldd]

A picture for reference....

I also tried turning the top nut. I can loosen it but cannot turn it past its point of tightened (if that makes sense). Appears to me the top bolt does not do any type of adjusting and as I said before the threaded bolt refuses to budge...

 

[dfiler2]

The bolt is connected to the roller carriage and will not turn, the height adjustment is done with the top nut, the bottom is a lock not. The top nut may be at the end of the threads. You could try removing both nuts and putting in a couple of washers but you may also be close to pulling the door into the rail. The link will show you the basic design of most rollers.


https://www.acehardware.com/departm...KnE9FGsVIHVSWGrU92xoC1GIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[nadogail]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[danieldd]

The bolt is connected to the roller carriage and will not turn, the height adjustment is done with the top nut, the bottom is a lock not. The top nut may be at the end of the threads. You could try removing both nuts and putting in a couple of washers but you may also be close to pulling the door into the rail. The link will show you the basic design of most rollers.


https://www.acehardware.com/departm...KnE9FGsVIHVSWGrU92xoC1GIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thanks for the information. Yes, it is obvious that shaft/bolt is not going to turn, so it must be the the adjustment has to come from the top nut, but the top nut appears to be at the top of its travel along the bolt's shaft. I will remove the 2 nuts and insert some washers there and see if that will give me some room for adjustment.

 

[danieldd]

I added 3 decent sized washers and attempted to crank down on the top nut in the hopes that it would give me the needed adjustment to allow the door to raise (I suspect I need at least a 1/6 to 1/8 inch so it doesn't drag). Didn't work as I would have hoped. It still drags, but not as bad. Not the hoped for solution I was seeking.

I am wondering if I can remove the two 1/4 inch sheet metal screws (in the picture above) to peer into the trolley mechanism to see the issue. Don't want the door to come crashing down though...

 

[txvwnut]

Can you not get to the top side of the door frame? There should be another nut on top of the framing member which is why you can’t get the door adjust up.

 

[danieldd]

Can you not get to the top side of the door frame? There should be another nut on top of the framing member which is why you can’t get the door adjust up.

I don't see how to get to it. I'm new to this whole barn door thing..

 

[ericm]

You might be able to reach it from the side, above the door but under the track. The trolleys I have came with two nuts not three.

If its used up the adjustment range the options are to raise the track or make the door shorter. Both of which require removing the door. When I had to remove a barn door to replace a 100+ year old broken track and put in new trolleys I wedged the door up to and tied it while removing the fittings then eased it down with a couple helpers.

 

[dfiler2]

The plate is just to give a solid backing for the nut, you will be fine lowering the door and removing the plate but I believe all you will see is a hole a little larger than the diameter of the bolt, but it may allow to see if you are at the end of the threads. It is possible that they used a roller that was too long for the top frame of the door, they come in different lengths, if that is the case you would either need to change the roller or use more spacers. Do the other rollers have the same amount of thread below the nuts?