All types of garage doors need rollers to move up and down smoothly. These garage door rollers are small wheels with ball bearings. Attached to a shaft, they glide into a sleeve bracket fitted on the door.
Garage door rollers often suffer damage due to excessive wear and tear. Frequent use and lack of lubrication cause a part of the roller to break. Whenever you see signs of wear and tear, call a good garage door repair company to check your rollers at once.
If ignored, broken garage rollers can cause severe door and property damage. That is why garage door roller repair and replacement are of importance.
Reasons why you must replace your garage door rollers at once
Rollers are the most frequently used garage door components. They function each time you open and close your garage door.
If your door has bent or broken rollers, it will move in a jerky manner or take a long time to open or close. This jerky movement can cause severe injury to your body or car.
Not only this, the slow movement of the garage door due to broken rollers applies a heavy strain in the garage door opener. This may cause additional damage to your opener.
Cracked rollers can prevent your door from fully closing, leaving it wide open midway. This poses a risk to your property from thieves, rodents, or bad weather.
Signs that indicate that it is time for your garage roller replacement
If your garage door makes a squeaking or grinding noise, then your rollers are in trouble.
Look for signs of visible wear and tear. See if any of the garage parts are bent, loose, cracked, or chipped. Check the tracks if they are misaligned. Check if the rollers with ball bearings have broken seals. These are signs of additional damage to your rollers.
Garages door roller replacement is based on the lifespan of the rollers. The average lifespan of garage rollers is 10,000 cycles for nylon rollers. This means they can last for 6-7 years. However, additional wear and tear may happen sooner for rollers due to repeated use. So, it is wise to opt for regular maintenance once a year for garage rollers.
Finally, remember to replace rollers whenever you get a garage door spring replacement.
Types of garage door rollers and their lifespan
The lifespan depends on the type of garage door roller and its material. Here are the common types of garage door rollers.
Plastic rollers
Plastic rollers are commonly used due to their budget-friendly prices. They are made of PVC and have no ball bearings. They are suitable for doors under 10 feet in width. They last for only 2-3 years.
Steel Rollers
Steel rollers are made of 27 gauge steel. They may or may not have ball bearings. They are mostly preferred for industrial and commercial garage doors.
Steel rollers with ball bearings
Certain steel rollers may have 7-10 ball bearings. They are very noisy. They last for at least 10-15 years. For quieter operation, use PVC-coated steel with at least 11 ball bearings.
Steel rollers without ball bearings
These steel rollers last only for a few years like plastic rollers.
Nylon rollers
Nylon rollers are noiseless and efficient, lasting for at least 15-20 years. They are expensive but are the best in terms of performance.
Garage door roller replacement and maintenance
Most people think they can replace garage door rollers on their own. This is risky and requires all the proper tools like a clamp, pliers, pry-bar, flat screwdriver with a large head, new rollers, etc. You should also have the expertise and experience to replace the rollers. For DIY roller replacement, certain points have to be borne in mind before replacing rollers. Some points are to disconnect the garage door opener, clamp the bottom garage door track, etc. Much precaution is necessary while replacing garage door rollers. That is why it is best to leave garage roller replacements to professional garage experts.
Lubricate rollers twice a year and have garage door maintenance done once a year through skilled garage door repair technicians like Thrifty Garage Door Repair.
We offer garage door roller replacement in Vancouver and surrounding areas. Contact us to avail of our services.
