The lift is in and the door and door opener are not allowing full lift but at least I can get the cars off the ground. I did dink around with my 9' door to see what was possible while the installers worked on the lift in the 16' bay. Here's what I did. I moved it up 3" as an experiment. The door still has the same balance as far as I can tell. I can open the door and it will sit half open and stays all the way up once opened. With that, I didn't expect any change to the door opener and it seems to work without any noticeable strain. I may try another 3" and see what it does. The unaltered 16' door is also on the same brace for comparison. I raised the door opener the same amount.
I'm using my phone now so the details are smallish. But it looks like you just raised the end 3". You can try raising it another 3" but you'll be putting a lot of stress in the rails. Worth a try I guess.
Nothing with the springs or wall mounts changed. Only the ends farthest from the wall are raised, aka, the angle from the wall to the braced end is now something greater than 90° since there is plenty of movement possible in the track after the elbow.
I couldn’t get my home builder to understand that I needed the door tight to the ceiling so I had to spend $1300 re doing it after. The crew added an angled piece of track and got it much higher with a side mount motor. In the pics you can see the other door is much lower.
Do bear in mind that with the tracks now sloping downward, if the spring breaks, that door is coming down.
The big door has two springs and if the spring breaks, the opener motor is engaged, it will hold it in place. I actually had a spring break on my house garage and would still open on one spring but it burned the motor out before we realized why it was so slow and labored. That spring broke in the down position. When I discovered it was when the motor burned out and I could barely get the heavy wooden door up by myself. I have seen plenty of doors on vertical tracks and at 45° angles so I'm not breaking new ground here. I'm just trying to figure out how to do it. I'm not convinced I need to buy a $500 jackshaft opener and scrap what I have.
I agree. If you could run the track vertical as far as possible, then the motor will be able to move that much closer to the door opening and may not even be in the way w/a car on the lift. Looks like you could pick up 2-3' there.
Here are some pictures of my high lift installed. This the typical install for torsion bar spring. Here is the high lift tracks installed. A standard door opener wont work. The door has to raise vertically before making the turn. This is as far as the door extends on the ceiling .
Also keep in mind if you raise the track 2’ the opener will move back towards the door about the same distance.
Technically, the door will move away from the car but the opener is still on the same length shaft but it is higher.
I still don’t see why you wouldn’t move the whole track right up tight to the ceiling. It looks like you could it up about 3-4 feet.
I think Greg & Dave are referring to the opener being able to move tight to the ceiling but because there's a shaft drive that the motor can't move closer to the opening although seems maybe (?) that the shaft could be be shortened since you'd no longer need as much horizontal travel which would then allow the motor to be moved. I'll have to take a closer look at mine. I wish I had the ceiling height some of you guys do but it'd still be nice to pick up a little if I could.
Yes, the door is 8' tall and the garage is 12'8" from the concrete floor. What you suggest involves touching the springs. To me, that is like working around the 3rd rail in the subway. I avoid it. If I can't get the clearance I need with my attempts, I'll hire a pro but for now, like much in my life since retirement, it is a bit of a science experiment. I learn by tinkering and as long as I don't drop it on a Buick, it can be easily fixed by writing a check. Mine are chain drive so there is a pully at the end mounted at the wall and on the opener. The trolley (is that what it is?) rides on the shaft pulled by the chain that is adjusted fairly tight so there is no slack. To shorten the shaft on mine would require removing links. Not impossible but maybe not my first choice at this point. I'm still considering putting the opener over one more rib on the wide door. The small door is really the science experiment. Less mass, less expense if I screw it up. LOL. As it is, my cars will hit the opener motor before the door and the truck will hit the door before the opener motor. I've got to do something with both to get full height out of my lift. It has only been to full height without a car.
So, I raised both doors 4 inches AND the 16' door opener wasn't centered over the track. It was more than an inch toward the center of the lift. I realigned that as well. I think it will let me get a lot more vertical room now, at least the 4 inches I moved it. With the move, the door released from the opener will still stay up at the same spots it did prior to the changes and the door opener has no problem lifting it. I'm still considering moving the radius pieces so they are taller first instead of shallower first. That would gain the 10 inches I really need.
I'd like to keep the opener because, well, it is here and it works. With my testing, I can now get the car all the way up without hitting anything with the door down. It is close but it clears. I can do more. At least I can get under it standing up now.
Sweet! Now you need some good work lights: https://www.amazon.com/Alert-Stampi...EG6S/ref=dp_prsubs_2?pd_rd_i=B00MP4EG6S&psc=1
I'm actually considering putting LED lights alone the lower wall as well since they can produce a lot of useful light.
I find when working under the car that any floor mounted or fixed lights cast too many shadows. Hand held lights with hooks or magnets work well to see into the nooks and crannies, at least for me. I have two of the older Stampi lights and they are very bright (you can't look at them) and have held up for several years, even after being dropped - oops.
