Have you checked your sheaves lately?

[Jim Mackell]

For the last year or so one of our garage doors has been hard to operate. Lifting or lowering was getting more and more difficult. Replaced the 30 year old Craftsman opener. Nope. Cleaned and lubricated all of the little rollers on the door sections. Nope. Took off all the trim and refastened making sure there was adequate clearance. Nope.

This morning I happened to look at the cable and spring assembly. On my doors the cable is attached at the bottom of the door, runs up to a sheave at the top of the door frame and then alongside the rail to the spring. The sheaves are original installation 39 years ago. Each sheave is 3 inches in diameter with a center surrounded by ball bearings - so the sheave can spin or rotate as the door is raised or lowered. The bearing race had rusted away and the shaft was frozen solid. So sheave not spin, so cable has to be dragged across surface, so door hard to raise or lower!

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought to check this. Now run out and check your sheaves for free rotation before you forget!

[lowell holmes]

Thanks for sharing this. I am going out to check the tracks on my door.''

OBTW, it is an overcast drizzling cold day in Galveston County Texas.

[Lee Schierer]

Good post, My daughter recently had her garage door almost fall on her car when some of the hinges came loose. The screws had loosened over time an several were missing. It could have been quite costly if it had hit the car.

I've suggested that they periodically check all the screws and lubricate the pulleys and rollers.

I also reminded them that when things start making noises that they probably are letting you know they need some minor maintenance before a major repair becomes necessary.

[Matt Day]

Those noises that things make, on garage doors, machinery cars, etc, is how it talks to say it needs attention. Too many people, including my wife, just turn up the volume on the radio.

[Jerome Stanek]

Just had to go out and adjust the springs on my shop door. I don't have sheaves as I have torsion springs and I was a garage door installer in the 70's

[Tom Stenzel]

Good you found the problem before something broke and dropped the door.

I've got the springs over the door, the guy that replaced them recommended spraying them with oil so the coils would slide smoothly. It did make opening and closing the door quieter.

-Tom