Garage door
rollers or wheels can be an integral
part of how safe, smooth and quite
your garage door operates. Rollers are made in various qualities in a number of different materials and sizes to meet the effective use of the end user. Determining the
correct type of garage door rollers
for your garage door can be a little confusing, especially when you do not know
what you need to look for in a garage door roller. To simplify things, there
are a couple of primary things you
need to be aware of. First would be the actual size of the
roller, and 2nd is the purpose and
conditions you will be
operating your door in.
The material can vary on both
the garage door roller itself, as well as on the stem. Each material features its own pros and cons, and
knowing your own priorities,
necessities, and expectations on your garage door can help you pick a wheel that
will best serve you. The
materials of a garage door roller can
influence just how long the
roller lasts, how resistant it is against high-moisture environments, how quiet
the garage door will be, and how heavy of a door the roller can accommodate. Your
first concern, in any situation, would
be to determine a garage door roller
that can accept the weight of your garage door without wearing out prematurely.
The safest method to replace
your garage door roller is to look at the material that your garage door
rollers are currently made out of. However, if you were considering upgrading
your rollers, it might be good
to know the weight your garage door. Oftentimes, the weight of the door will be located on a sticker somewhere on the
garage door or perhaps the
spring shaft.
Roller sizes are rather standard in the garage door business. It is
usually a one inch, two inch, or three inch diameter on
the wheel itself. You can very easily find out this measurement by placing a ruler across the face of the roller. In
addition to the diameter of the
roller, you need to know the entire length of the stem itself as well. You can
get that measurement by measuring the full length of the stem up to where the
roller is on the stem. The measurement you will get is not always going to be an exact
measurement of 1", 2", or 3" rollers. A 3" roller will
typically measure out to be about 2-3/4", while a 2" roller will
measure out to be a 1-3/4", and a 1" roller will measure out around
3/4". In addition, the shaft of almost every roller will be a diameter of
7/16 of an inch, which is the typical industry standard. You will likely not need to worry about that measurement
unless you have a much older door. If you've got a very old door a simple quick measurement of
the stem diameter using a ruler
or caliper would not hurt. Knowing
this measurement, you can observe
what size works with you
current configuration.
One of the next priorities when choosing a roller would be to determine if your garage door is in
a high-moisture environment or not. Rollers made with stainless steel or zinc
plating are made that way because they are resistant of rust. Under normal
conditions, they are utilized
in spaces like car washes, dairy barns and other high-moisture environments. If
you do not have a high-moisture location, there isn't an expressed requirement for a stainless steel or zinc plated roller,
but if you've had a rust problem in the past, it's probably wise that
you will get rollers that are
resilient against rust. An area where you may choose to use a corrosion
resistant roller is in a colder
climate that has snow and salt. A corrosion resistant roller will prevent the
bottom rollers from rusting out and failing prematurely.
Once you have determined the
environment your door operates in the
next decision is between how quiet you want your garage door to be, how much
money you want to invest, and how long you would like the rollers to last. If
smooth quite operation is what
you are looking for then a nylon or rubber roller needs to be on your list. Additionally, the
number of balls in the bearing for the
roller can drastically effect how loud your garage door will be. The more ball
bearings inside the garage door roller there are, the quieter and smoother the
garage door will run. Additionally, rollers with more ball bearings in them
tend to last considerably longer than ones with fewer ball bearings. Typically
the more ball bearings the more
expensive the roller.
Ultimately, comprehending the
cycle life of a garage door wheel is important as well to picking a
garage door wheel especially in
commercial applications. The ratings are fairly simple to understand. The
rating for our 3” 10 ball 7” steel is as follows around 50000 cycles on a 12
foot high door at approximately 150lbs per roller. A single roller does not
support the entire weight of the door, so this should not be alarming. So if we
take that into perspective it means that using this particular roller on a door
with ten rollers on it, the rollers could lift a 1500lb door that is 12 ft.
high approximately 50,000 times before it breaks or fails. Mind you, such a door is very large, and likely is not what you have. However
it gives you a glimpse into the strength
of these rollers. If your rollers are too weak to lift the door, the roller
will break a lot more quickly
than under normal circumstances, so make sure pick something that can support the weight of the garage door.
To summarize, the pros of steel
rollers are that they last longer than nylon on large applications, they handle
higher loads, and they tend to be a little bit cheaper. The con is that they
are much louder than nylon rollers and are much less tolerant to moisture.
Nylon rollers have the benefit
of smooth operation, lightweight
design and quietness, but they tend to break if impacted. As for the stems, if
you need rust resistance, get zinc plated or stainless steel, otherwise just
regular steel will suffice. The number of ball bearings can greatly manipulate the cost, but as you add more ball bearings, the
roller lasts longer and runs quieter.
The most common roller used on a
residential garage door is a 7 ball bearing steel roller in a 2” diameter tire
with a shaft length around 4”. These rollers are good for universal use and
have a load rating of 35lbs and are good for around 10,000 cycles. You
can find this style roller in
many hardware or big box stores. If
you are looking to upgrade to a heavy
duty roller for your residential door we might recommend you upgrade to a 10 ball bearing roller which has a working load of 75lbs and cycle life doubles to nearly 20,000. If you
are looking for the ultimate in maintenance free and the quietest garage door
rollers for your home we would suggest the white vinyl standard 11 ball bearing
roller. The rollers that we carry are of a much higher quality than what you will find at your local hardware store. You could also check with a local door dealer
but we have found their
selection isn't as good and
door dealers are not always
willing to sell retail.
When contemplating replacing worn or damaged garage door rollers as
being a DIY project it is very
important that you do them one-by-one to maintain the integrity of your
garage door and not to comprise
your safety. Always remember your bottom rollers are usually held in place by the bottom bracket or fixture.
Your garage door bottom bracket typically has all the spring tension attached to it via the door
lifting cables. The bottom bracket should never be removed when spring tension
is live on the door. If you are not knowledgeable about this process you should contact a
professional door company to complete the repairs for you.
Click here to view our complete line of garage door rollers.
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