Re lube garage door tracks?

[Bennylava]

Hi all. When I bought my house, the garage door was really quiet. It even says "ultra quiet" on the motor so I guess it made sense. But now, it has gotten very... squeally. Not the motor itself, but the door. The wheels and tracks seem to be loud and squealing a lot. So:


1. What lube should I use for this job, that will have the staying power?

2. Is there an easy way to remove all the old gunk, in preparation for the new?

 

[matt_i]

I would answer like this: I would lubricate a wheel bearing before I would lube a tire.

I would use a higher viscosity (ISO220) oil for this project.

 

[manwithtools]

As Matt said, no lube in the tracks. Lube the bearings in the rollers that ride in the tracks. I also lube the hinges that the door panels pivot on as they will sometimes cause squeaks too.

 

[Gotcha640]

You might also check that the tracks are still straight. As the structure settles and the ground moves, the opening can get out of alignment. The mounts have a little bit of adjustment, or you might have to move them. The hinges can also get sticky.

 

[Showkey]

More mention of chain or screw drive ?

They sell specific grease for the screw:

As for track........look for one or more wheels stuck or rusted at the bearing ( usually the bottom wheel).

 

[M-technik-3]

Change wheels out for rubber ones. Steel wheels are clunky.

 

[dgbdman]

I changed my wheels out with these nylons ones it helped a lot also don't use any solvent based spray like wd40 on them it will take the grease out of the bearings.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016VNU14E/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Bennylava]

Hope its not the building, but the building has been there for about 12 years. I'll check out the suggested stuff. Do the rubber wheels ever wear out?

 

[manwithtools]

They aren't actually rubber covered by my experience, they are nylon covered and the better ones do last and are very quiet. I replaced all the rollers with the nylon covered versions on 3 garage doors on my attached garage after having new doors installed on the pole building and hearing how quiet they were.

 

[upndown]

Change wheels out for rubber ones. Steel wheels are clunky.

Hmmmm... Never heard of rubber rollers! Get some 10 ball nylon rollers and your all set. They still need periodic lubrication for the ball bearings. I use a product called Fehr Lube, works on the hinges as well. Don't waste your money on bearingless nylon rollers!

 

[stonesfan68]

Get some Blaster Garage Door Lubricant and follow the directions. It costs about $9 from Amazon or Home Depot.

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

I changed my wheels out with these nylons ones it helped a lot also don't use any solvent based spray like wd40 on them it will take the grease out of the bearings.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016VNU14E/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I want to put these on my garage door. But wouldn't the ones with sealed ball bearings be a better option?

 

[JJThrasher]

Our service guy uses some type of really like oil in a spray bottle. Not sure what it is. He just sprays the wheels, bearings, and hinges with it. I figure he's been serving these doors for longer than I've been alive and we rarely have issues.

 

[imok]

Get some Blaster Garage Door Lubricant and follow the directions. It costs about $9 from Amazon or Home Depot.

I use this from Home Depot. It works well to get rid of the noise of my metal doors.

 

[Bennylava]

Got the blaster lube. Will report back on how it works out.

 

[The Cobbler]

also a bit of oil on the torsion spring

 

[Bennylava]

also a bit of oil on the torsion spring

More blaster lube? Or a different type of oil for the springs? Sorry for no pics, I know a couple guys asked what type of garage door. I'm not real familiar with all the types, so I'll just describe it.

It of course has the standard electric motor, but there is a big spring that faces the right and left walls, perpendicular to the door. And its above the door, when the door is closed. The spring does actually seem to be two springs, but they're very close together and separated by some... piece of metal.

This is opposed to the one we had when I was a kid. My parents had the old unsafe style, where there were two big long springs for each side, and instead of running at a right angle to the tracks, they were parallel. One of them finally let go one day, and it shot through my parents bedroom wall and was partially hanging out of the wall, inside their bedroom. They were in there asleep when it happened. That had to ****.

 

[maxpower_hd]

For our tractor trailer doors we use a product from Todco that is called food grade lube which is basically mineral oil according to the MSDS. There is also a less "green" but I don't think they manufacture it anymore. I think it was basically PB Blaster.

And it WILL get in the track when you lube the bearings regardless so I wouldn't worry if you get it in there. You just don't NEED to lube the track.

 

[Pipanski]

Buy a can of Fluid Film and spray every wheel with it. Hit the tracks if you want too. And the springs. Fluid Film is great stuff and Home Depot sells it for the cheapest I've seen it.

Don't bother getting a special specific garage door lubricant that you will use every couple years. Fluid film is safe on almost everything.

 

[Bennylava]

Well the recommended lube worked. No more squealing, and it seems a lot more quiet now.

Not sure how long it will last, but hey.


Also, isn't a spray a bit on the underkill side? There looks to have been actual grease on there, originally. Seems like the spray is going to thin out the grease, and then itself eventually stop working well and need to be reapplied.

 

[ZipSnafu]

also a bit of oil on the torsion spring

So you are supposed to lube the spring as well?

 

[maxpower_hd]

The instructions for our trailer doors say yes. Do the spring(s), bearings, rollers, hinges and latch. They aren't any different than a garage door from what I can see.

 

[TMcCay]

Use the springs benefit from a shot of lube (the torsion style do anyway). If you think about it the coils are rubbing against each other when they are turning. They also come with a lube on them from the factory but over time it will dry out and become dirty just from exposure.
And Fluid Film is what I use.