Moving Garage Door Left to Right

[wfsdno]

Been surfing this website for years now, finally making my first post....

So.... after my 'lift cable' came loose and my garage door shifted to the right a little getting it down to repair it.... I now have to shift or move the door to the left as it is not longer centered. The track does not need moving, I just need to get the door back to the original position.

The door is a 16'w by 12't insulated steel door, probably weights about 650 pounds (according to brochure)

Can I use a jack to push it over?
Should I raise the door an inch so its not dragging before pushing?
Do I need to undo the torsion springs first?

Hope that makes sense!! Any thoughts? Thank You in Advance!!

 

[cmoist]

wfsdno, I'm struggling to understand how it would shift. There should be very little play side to side. Typically, the rollers are relatively tight to the door, which prohibits it from moving side to side.

Perhaps a picture would help.

 

[Jwallace1]

i can probably move my door side to side a half inch, just play between the rollers and the hinges, for whatever reason the door will move all the way over the right to where the part of the hinge the axle of the roller slide through is touching the roller, ill just lift it up a foot or so and push it back over and a few months goes by and ill have to do it again. im assuming maybe a cable on the left side pulls a little harder or has more tension so it eventually works its way over to the right. i don't really worry about it just push it back over when i notice it.

 

[BillK]

I would think that the door would center itself as soon as you start tightening the spring(s) and get some weight off it.

 

[wfsdno]

When the wire came loose, the door came down at such an angle that it pushed so hard on the left side we had to loosen the wall brackets. Now it is working but scooted off the the right and is touching the track in a couple of spots, which is causing some dragging.

Sounds like maybe pushing the door over like JWallace is doing is what I need to do.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Hot Rod Grampa]

When we do the initial install, the door is centered in the opening and the tracks are pinched at the very bottom, tight to the rollers, so the door always centers itself when it comes down. The second flag up on the vertical track is fastened So there is a 3/8” gap between the roller and the hard stop. When your cable broke, the door became wider at its new angle and pushed the track out by bending the flags or the flags slid out in their slots on the lag bolt. So get the door down to the floor, center it in the opening and start adjusting the track.

 

[greg13]

Your cables are out of adjustment, One side is tighter than the other so the spring is holding the tight side up. The cables will need readjustment, this is something you may or may not want to do yourself. there are a lot of articles on doing it, but be advised that you are working with spring tension that can send you to the hospital if done wrong.

 

[wfsdno]

Thanks HotRod! According to your description, we must have our brackets set wrong. I will adjust them according to your info and will also double check the other doors!

Thanks Greg, I know they are dangerous. We installed 3 garage doors in the barn (2 big ones, one smaller) . The other 2 work perfectly so we must have just got the cable tension off enough on this one that it took a couple of years to show itself.

Thanks again for all the help and advice!