Reposition garage door opener?

mattd39 · Jan 24, 2016

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to install a high lift setup but didn't want to buy a new garage door opener. My garage is 14' high and I thought about mounting my existing opener at the top of the same wall of the garage door. That way it get's pulled straight up. I can detach the brackets holding the opener at just swing the current setup to the front wall. Does anyone forsee a problem with this?

Thanks,

kaymccampbell · Jan 24, 2016

Try it. What's the worst that could happen? It would **** and you'd need a special door opener?

Dick in Wisconsin · Jan 24, 2016

Bit the bullet and buy a LiftMaster 8500 jack shaft drive. You'll spend a few bucks doing it, but probably less than 10% of the time trying to make the old one work. Then sell the old one on Craigslist for $45.

dave*99 · Jan 24, 2016

**** in Wisconsin said:
Bit the bullet and buy a LiftMaster 8500 jack shaft drive. You'll spend a few bucks doing it, but probably less than 10% of the time trying to make the old one work. Then sell the old one on Craigslist for $45.

This.

jstroede · Jan 24, 2016

mattd39 said:
Hi Everyone,

I wanted to install a high lift setup but didn't want to buy a new garage door opener. My garage is 14' high and I thought about mounting my existing opener at the top of the same wall of the garage door. That way it get's pulled straight up. I can detach the brackets holding the opener at just swing the current setup to the front wall. Does anyone forsee a problem with this?

Thanks,

Don't make another thought about it. There isn't enough space.

John

AndrewDouglasBird · Jan 24, 2016

Mounting it above the door won't work as the door moves into the garage as it opens, not straight up the wall. That is, unless you change the garage door tracks around.

You might be able to shift it sideways though, over to the next garage door support.

mattd39 · Jan 24, 2016

AndrewDouglasBird said:
Mounting it above the door won't work as the door moves into the garage as it opens, not straight up the wall. That is, unless you change the garage door tracks around.

You might be able to shift it sideways though, over to the next garage door support.

I was going to buy track so it would lift straight up.

Shifting it sideways won't help because I want to put a lift in the garage.

mattd39 · Jan 24, 2016

jstroede said:
Don't make another thought about it. There isn't enough space.

John

I would cut a hole in the ceiling and extend further into the ceiling if needed.

I just don't want to spend an extra $500 if I don't need to. My setup is going to very costly as it is;

$3500+ for the car lift
$1000 for heater
etc

Gotcha640 · Jan 24, 2016

Where are you that a lift is 3500? Or, what sort of thing would you do with a $3500 lift in what appears to be a 2 car garage?

We just put in a 2 post for $1800, plus $35 for an sds drill rental.

mattd39 · Jan 24, 2016

Gotcha640 said:
Where are you that a lift is 3500? Or, what sort of thing would you do with a $3500 lift in what appears to be a 2 car garage?

We just put in a 2 post for $1800, plus $35 for an sds drill rental.

http://www.princessauto.com/en/deta...sionid=1MSKyToq4mF3ZOkH+6b7CtZC.pal-prod-com3

I want to park a second car underneath.

Matt M PA · Jan 24, 2016

It's hard for me to comment since I don;t know exactly what you plan to do...but....I positioned one of my openers on the end of the door...not the center. My understanding is that as long as you have torsion springs...the opener can be attached at the top edge and opposed to the top center of the door.

In my case, it's mounted along the track on one side and in that location it's out of the way. I should add that this is in a standard height track and I did it to make room for a mid-rise lift.

mattd39 · Jan 24, 2016

Matt M said:
It's hard for me to comment since I don;t know exactly what you plan to do...but....I positioned one of my openers on the end of the door...not the center. My understanding is that as long as you have torsion springs...the opener can be attached at the top edge and opposed to the top center of the door.

In my case, it's mounted along the track on one side and in that location it's out of the way. I should add that this is in a standard height track and I did it to make room for a mid-rise lift.

Do you have a picture? or do you mean it's like the setup below?

Matt M PA · Jan 24, 2016

I can take a pic in the AM....it's installed like a standard opener...except it's to the side next to the track as opposed to being in the center. When I use the lift, the opener is out of the way.

mattd39 · Jan 24, 2016

Matt M said:
I can take a pic in the AM....it's installed like a standard opener...except it's to the side next to the track as opposed to being in the center. When I use the lift, the opener is out of the way.

I understand! Doesn't the garage door hit the car on the lift when it opens? I want to store a vehicle on my lift and use another vehicle underneath the lift.

Matt M PA · Jan 24, 2016

That bay only has a mid-rise...so I doubt I can go high enough to hit...but the car would hit the opener in the "normal" location which is why I set it up to the side.

That being said, my thinking (perhaps faulty) is that it you moved your tracks higher-closer to the ceiling but kept them parallel to the floor...there may be a way to use your existing opener mounted to the side.

upndown · Jan 24, 2016

OP, personally I've never seen one installed the way you describe, nor do I see it working! What you describe is a vertical lift door, the only way that will
Work is with a side mount/jack shaft opener.

bandaidmd · Jan 25, 2016

I would take matt m's advice since he actually moved his opener. My concern would be that the door will be an issue if you ever need to open it with a car in the air. I'm thinking your going to need to modify your tracks so the door goes vertically higher before making the turn to horizontal.
Also I think you can mount your opener centered and have it as high as you want by just extending the bar that attaches between the door and opener without changing any of the leverage ratios /forces that were designed into your opener but that still doesn't help you open door with a car in the air.

coldh2o · Jan 25, 2016

The Liftmaster is $450 on Amazon.ca, I think you'd spend more than that trying to make the door go straight up (and like others have said, I don't see how that could work anyway). You may also have to raise the door tracks to go over the lift. That's how I did mine, the door on the left in this photo:

Have you looked at the ProPark 8+ at directlift.ca? It's the same price as the Danmar, but comes with casters.

Matt M PA · Jan 25, 2016

Here's a pic of the way I set up my openers. The one to the left is mounted at the end of the door and beside the track leaving clearance for a car to be lifted.

I'm not sure how the OP would attach to the door if the tracks were moved up but left parallel to the roof...

coldh2o · Jan 25, 2016

Matt M said:
Here's a pic of the way I set up my openers. The one to the left is mounted at the end of the door and beside the track leaving clearance for a car to be lifted.

I'm not sure how the OP would attach to the door if the tracks were moved up but left parallel to the roof...

Seems like that would impart a lot of eccentric force on the door structure, I'd be concerned about long term racking of the door.

lorne · Jan 25, 2016

Sounds like the OP also has to deal with the door being too low.. Two different projects. One to get the door out of the way and one to get and electric opener working (again).. You'll definitely need to adjust or need different springs to support the entire weight of the door going straight up rather than leveling off after lifting for a foot.

OP is you are going to do this yourself, check out: http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/garage-door-high-lift-conversion.php

As someone said above, it's will probably be easier to switch to something like a Liftmaster 8500 than trying to mount your existing opener straight up and down.

Matt M PA · Jan 25, 2016

coldh2o said:
Seems like that would impart a lot of eccentric force on the door structure, I'd be concerned about long term racking of the door.

I spoke with the company that manufactures my door opener. They were the ones that suggested mounting it to the side. They say it only works on doors with torsion springs. It's been a number of years since the installation, and everything is been fine. In fact, that's the door that gets opened the most. In fact, that's the door that gets opened the most.

At the time, they offered an optional kit to mount the opener to the side. I had the same concerns about it racking the door., and assumed that was why they offered some sort of kit. When I spoke to them, they said I really didn't need the kit that I only had to mount it to the side, as I've done.

fsae0607 · Jan 25, 2016

Or just eliminate the opener altogether and manually open/close your door.

That's just me, if I was hell-bent on getting a lift.

kbs2244 · Jan 25, 2016

There are millions of truck dock doors installed this way.
It will take new springs and re-bracing the motor end.

mattd39 · Jan 25, 2016

Thanks for all the input guys. I guess the best course of action is to get a side mount opener.

landlord30 · Jan 25, 2016

mattd39 said:
http://www.princessauto.com/en/deta...sionid=1MSKyToq4mF3ZOkH+6b7CtZC.pal-prod-com3

I want to park a second car underneath.

Save yourself some money. Look at this:

http://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com...-plus-tall-8000-p/autolift-car-park-8plus.htm

I've had it for almost 4 years, no problems. Installed it myself. 12'4" ceiling in my garage. I'm 6'4" and can work comfortably underneath.

Matt

coldh2o · Jan 26, 2016

landlord30 said:
Save yourself some money. Look at this:

http://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com...-plus-tall-8000-p/autolift-car-park-8plus.htm

I've had it for almost 4 years, no problems. Installed it myself. 12'4" ceiling in my garage. I'm 6'4" and can work comfortably underneath.

Matt

OP is in Canada, I believe.

pepi · Jan 26, 2016

mattd39 said:
Do you have a picture? or do you mean it's like the setup below?

What's that geniuses point the track for the door is still there :lol:

That is someone with way to much self esteem

sberry · Jan 26, 2016

I can get a pic in the morning too. I essentially made a jackshaft opener from one.

crguy · Jan 26, 2016

coldh2o said:
Seems like that would impart a lot of eccentric force on the door structure, I'd be concerned about long term racking of the door.

I agree. That setup is putting an uneven force on the door.

ascott172 · Jan 26, 2016

crguy said:
I agree. That setup is putting an uneven force on the door.

When you manually raise a garage door the handle is not in the middle of the door, it's on one side. If the door and springs are balanced it won't matter where you attach the opener.

Reposition garage door opener?

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