In article ,
George wrote:
I can't get my garage door to open where my tools are at. It is a
wide 2.5 car door and has 2 large long springs on each side. Yes,

[ ... ]

When I look at the door from the outside, there is a visible drop on
the left side which I can plainly see due to a change in paint color
from where I painted it a year back vs. newly uncovered old paint that
was previously hidden. Thus, I know one side has definitely dropped.
I look at the railing/guides and everything tooks fine. Did a cable
slip or is one of the old springs giving out? The springs look okay
and the cable is on both pulley wheels. Beyond that, I don't know
what to look for.

Hmm ... you've gotten some good advice already, but one thing
which I haven't seen mentioned which I have encountered. There are some
small rollers which are mounted at certain points to guide the door
(which is hinged to bend as it goes up over the curve. On mine (two
separate single-wide doors, not one wide enough to cover everything), I
was having problems with these rollers sliding too far in the brackets
which serve as bearings, so the end clears one of the two flanges, and
the roller tilts. This produces a lot of drag, and makes operation
rather awkward.

The first step, of course, is to take some pliers to grip the
shaft, and guide it back through the second hole, removing the tilt.

Then, once that is done, what *I* have done is to take a 1/16"
split-point drill bit in a hand drill and drill through the shaft just
past the second flange. I then put a cotter pin through it, and bend it
to make sure that it *stays* there -- trying to bend it so the points
won't hook on somebody's clothes (or on somebody).

This worked for me, at least.

Good Luck,
DoN.

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