What Makes Up Your Garage Door Support System?

Sounds like an easy question to answer. The tracks that hang from the garage ceiling hold your garage door up. That’s true, but it doesn’t tell the whole story of your garage door support system. If only the roller track were responsible for supporting a garage door, then it would be a ‘hot mess’ after just a couple cycles of opening and closing.

In fact, without an entire garage door support system, the garage door might get so out of balance and alignment that the roller tracks might not be able to properly support it at all.

A garage door support system lets it go from being a wall, to tucking neatly out of place under the ceiling, quickly and consistently with very little effort, either from you or your garage door opener.

Your Garage Door Support System

Without these devices, your garage door wouldn’t be able to do everything it does for you.

Springs

There are two types of springs that can support your door. The horizontal coil-shaped spring runs parallel to the top of the door, just inside the garage. Extension springs located above the horizontal tracks help keep the door level from side to side.

Hinges

Your garage door probably has four horizontal panels connected by hinges. It’s the hinges that articulate to allow the door to go from a vertical to horizontal position, and back, in just a few seconds.

Rollers

Extending off either side of each door panel, usually near the top of the panel, steel or nylon rollers sit inside the roller tracks. They keep the door upright when it’s closed and aloft when it’s open. And they make it possible for the door to move smoothly between the two positions.

Lifting Cables

Located on either side of the door, the lifting cables are connected by pulleys to the torsion spring. They help support the weight of the door and keep it balanced, throughout every opening and closing of the door.

Roller Tracks

The roller tracks guide and support the rollers and, in turn, the door itself. They are positioned on either side of the door through its entire travel path from vertical to horizontal.

Weather Stripping

While the weather stripping doesn’t physically support the weight or motion of the door, it does help the door do its job of keeping everything inside your garage protected from the elements outside.

A garage door system is far more complex than most of us realize. To learn more about your garage door, how it works and how to keep it working, contact us at Whitby Garage Doors.