They fixed it yesterday. I just haven't had time to post. They replaced the bar, pulleys, springs, rollers, garage door opener, etc. The wood that the center of the bar is attached to was split beyond repair so they had to replace that. My house is concrete block. The pulleys with the cables and the springs are a lot larger than before. The rollers are a lot better and quieter. They put a new pad on the outside, too. They kept the existing side rails. They just had to bend them back and they work fine.

I asked the owner about the bar diameter and he said that it is the correct size for the door.

The new opener is a screw drive Liftmaster 1/2 hp.

Total bill was $785. I am sure I could have gotten it a little cheaper but the owner and installer were great. They called my wife 3 times to make sure she knew exactly when they would be there. Most big companies would have just shown up whenever. They even spent the time to set up the Homelink in my wife's van.

Now when I open it there is almost no noise. You can barely hear it from inside the house. You could hear the old one everywhere in the house and it was LOUD!

 

I'm glad to hear they did a good job and your pleased w/thier work.

 

Labnerd won!!!!!!!!!!

Now, what did he win?

 

Congratulations! Here is your prize.

 

I would have gone with the belt drive too... They're darn near silent!

The old bar looks like it wore through. It didn't just shear, it wore through. That's obvious by the wear in the shaft. The width of the worn area happens to match the width of the bearing/bushing it goes through. Did they fix that piece as well? If not, you're eventually going to have the same problem on that end. As the door moves up and down, watch that bearing/bushing to see if it moves too.

-Joe

 

The screw drive works for us fine. Like I said the garage is far away from where anyone is in the house sleeping, etc. so it does not have to be completely silent. I cannot even hear this one open inside the house at all.



They replaced the bar and everything that attaches to it. Yes, it wore through over time. The fitting with ball bearings that the end of the bar sits in (I don't know the name of the plate) was all locked up. The bearings were all frozen. I have only had the house since the middle of last year and who knows what kid of maintenance the previous owner did. I spray everything down with Silicone spray every 4-6 months.

He also told me that the center support/plate on the old one did not even have any bearings. It was just a metal plate. The black marks on the outside of the door where actually from the bar rubbing on that plate.

Basically, it was cheap builder spec garage door hardware. My old house was built by the company that my brother-in-law works for and was much better built. The biggest problem was that it was just way too small with 3 kids.

 

Im the owner of a garage door co. www.a1rgv.com
The reason the shaft tore is because you bearing on the bearing plate locked up, for the work and parts they installed seems like you got a fair deal... FYI that crappy Craftsman opener is one of the best out there, (same as your new Liftmaster just w/ a chain) not the quietest just quality wise.

They are made by Chamberlain which also makes Liftmaster, if you want a killer GDO go to Home Depot and get this one http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...egoryID=501480 its hands down the best out there.

 

Thanks. I think part of the problem with the Craftsman one was with the person who installed it originally. Pretty much nothing was done correctly before. It moved all over the place when opening the door, the wood that it was attached to was split, etc. The new install is great. The motor does not move at all and it is smooth. The one thing that I liked about the new opener assembly is that the screw drive shaft is all one piece, which in my mind means less areas to make noise/break in the future.