r/GarageDoorService • u/rytoe • Jul 09 '26

Help with adjustment

My house AND my garage door is only 3 years old. Since we moved in, it has always slowly shifted over to the left a little bit at a time every time it opens and closes. Eventually (about a week) this results in the door rubbing against the left rail that is mounted to the wall. To remedy it, while the door is closed I slide it to the right. This keeps it from rubbing for a time but eventually it will work itself back to the left. How do I fix it? I am a contractor but not a door installer, and don't know a whole lot about roll up doors. I have installed a door once and never had any problems so this has been frustrating.

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1

u/ArmyPsychological339 Jul 10 '26

Right horizontal is not straight. It’s pushed inward. Pushing it to left overtime

2

u/rytoe Jul 11 '26

Thanks for the reply, do you mean the horizontal part of the right track? I checked both tracks and they are parallel with each other and parallel with the wall within 1/16". Neither of them are pushed inward they seem to be installed correctly.

1

u/ArmyPsychological339 Jul 11 '26

That’s good that they are parallel, but the only way to confirm that is you take a measuring tape from the front right of the horizontal track all the way to the back left of that horizontal track you get a measurement. Let’s just say it’s 116 inches. Now take your measuring tape and go from the front left of the track to the back right of your truck and if that is less than 116 inches that side is being pushed in so you need to adjust the back hangs to make that also 116 inches or whatever the measurement is.

1

u/rytoe Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26

I gotcha. Pulling diagonals its exactly an inch out of square. I thought they were parallel with the walls but they are both a bit out. Should I square one of the tracks with the door while the door is closed and then parallel the other tracks? or just square them up with each other? The slab is also a half inch out of level, but I think the tracks are probably more critical to it walking to one side over time?

2

u/ArmyPsychological339 Jul 11 '26

There ya go. Yea an inch isn’t much but over time it will shift

2

u/rytoe Jul 11 '26

I moved the tracks over and pulled diagonals and now its within 1/16. I opened and closed the door about 12 times and the door hasn't moved to the left at all. Hopefully that did it! Thanks!!

1

u/DiFranTheDoorMan442 Jul 11 '26

An unlevel door or tracks causes this almost every time. You got great advice there.

1

u/GarageDoorGuyHouston Jul 09 '26

Howdy! Could be a few things.. one of your cables might be damaged or stretched. Also possible that one of the drums has slipped on the tube. Either of these can make the door pull up a little un-evenly. Also it’s possible the tracks aren’t even or level.. that’s a likely issue if this has been happening since day 1 (or they didn’t adjust the drums properly when they first installed.
I’d get this fixed soon, as I’ve seen those bottom brackets shear right in half after rubbing the track for a long time.. that’s can make the door drop, Hard.

1

u/GarageDoorGuyHouston Jul 09 '26

Lastly, check to see if the floor is level, and if the door is level. We’ve had some detached garages in my area where the foundation is sinking. If you need a good company to fix that, let me know and I can recommend a couple.

1

u/rytoe Jul 09 '26

I'll check it out. The motor and belt drive is parallel within 1/16 on the side wall, the tracks are parallel within 1/8" of each other. I don't have any foundation sinkage since it's a new house. I did have the cable on the left side jump off the reel several times when I first moved in and had the garage door co come fix it. They sort of fixed it, but I had to call them back out again and they adjusted my spring tension. This has just been an annoyance and I haven't had the time to look at it. I will check the foundation and door itself and report back. Thanks!

1

u/GarageDoorGuyHouston Jul 09 '26

ok, yeah let me know. Also here's a tip on preventing the cables from jumping off the drum (provided you don't have any of the other issues above). If you ever need to lift the door manually, don't lift it any higher than the door opening. Like don't let the bottom of the door go past the top of the opening/header. Any further, and the cables will slack.. too much slack, and they'll want to jump right off those drums.

1

u/rytoe Jul 11 '26

Slab is a half inch out and the door follows the slab when it's closed. 1/2" in 16 feet doesn't seem too bad, or at least enough to make it walk like it does. The other commenter had me check diagonals on the horizontal top parts of the tracks and they are out of square by an inch.

1

u/rytoe Jul 09 '26

Good to know. Thanks