I need advice!
Q: What's the trick to get the new bearing into the bearing end plate?
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036203.jpg
Q: How would you get the bottom roller back onto the garage door?
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036205.jpg
Q: Do you think a disintegrated bearing caused these cable tangles?
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036211.jpg

DETAILS:
A friend of mine asked me to help her with her garage door today:
http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036154.jpg

Apparently the cables had slipped off & it tangled on the right drum:
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036156.jpg

I put both cables back on but the door wasn't going up all that well.
Then I noticed the cable was, strangely, hung on a nail head:
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036158.jpg

So, I banged in the nail and put it all back together.
But it hung up again! Even worse.
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036163.jpg
http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036164.jpg

I then noticed the left drum (red) bearing had disintegrated:
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036166.jpg

And, the bottom roller basically twisted off the door as it fell:
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036170.jpg

Since there was only a plastic spacer in the spring anchor plate:
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036176.jpg

I bought her three new bearings & one new (red) left drum:
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036192.jpg

But now, I can't, for the life of me, get the bearing into the plate!
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036198.jpg

I bang and bang and bang. I'm gonna ruin the bearing if I keep this up.

QUESTION:
What's the trick to get the bearing into the bearing end plate?
How would you get the bottom roller back onto the garage door?
Do you think the disintegrated bearing caused the cable tangles?

Danny D. wrote:

Q: What's the trick to get the new bearing into the bearing end plate?
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036203.jpg

What you really need is the "bearing blaster"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NlRIrSSCWI

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 02:02:44 +0000, Ripple Whine wrote:

What you really need is the "bearing blaster"

I'm trying to help a single mom out who doesn't have a lot of money, and
I'm just a regular guy - who just happens to have worked on his garage
door.

This "bearing blaster" is very nice.
http://www.allworldinc.net/products.html

I'll call http://www.allworldinc.net tomorrow (360-815-5346) to see how
much it is ... but I suspect it's pricewise out of my league.

In my own garage, I installed a bearing using a simple hammer.
Like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=5Je43D8ix44

But it's just not working for THIS bearing. It's that tight!
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036298.jpg

I'm heading to the hardware store to get some pipe to see if I can use
pipe as a jig in my vise to hold the bearing plate and bang in the
bearing.

Ripple Whine wrote:

What you really need is the "bearing blaster"

Here is a garage door bearing blaster advertised for $135.

http://www.stardoorparts.com/Garage-...ingblaster.htm

I can see the advantages for the professionals (e.g., you can remove
and replace bearings without removing the bearing end plates); but
for homeowners, it's too costly (IMHO) for such an infrequent task.

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 08:15:10 +0000, Zen wrote:
Here is a garage door bearing blaster advertised for $135.

I googled like crazy, and could only find 2 DIYs for removing
& replacing the bearing on the garage door bearing end plate.

This text-only bearing replacement DIY didn't make much sense:
http://www.gobi2.com/how-to-reinstal...r-end-bearings

The tools needed for that text-only DIY we
a. 1" long by 2.25" diameter pipe
b. 1.25" collar with an outer edge of at least 2"
c. Claw hammer (used sideways)

Luckily, DDM Garage doors has this End Bearing Replacement tutorial:
http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instru...eplacement.php

The tools the DDM tutorial used were the same as in the text-only DIY:
a. 1" long by 2.25" diameter pipe (i.e., wider than the bearing OD)
b. 1.25" collar with an outer edge of at least 2"
c. Claw hammer (used sideways)

The strange thing is neither DIY explained if the diameters were
inside or outside diameters - so I presume we need the following:
1. 1" long by 2.25" ID pipe (the OD presumably does not matter)
2. 1" ID collar with an OD of at least 2"

I'm going to see what I can find in my basement & let you know how it
works out as my friend is without a garage door, and with small kids, in
the rain, it's a bit inconvenient - so I hope to fix this by tomorrow.

Danny D. wrote:

the bottom roller basically twisted off the door as it fell:
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12036170.jpg

Replacement of the bottom roller is NOT INTUITIVE!
In fact, the "obvious" way to do it is WRONG WRONG WRONG!
The bottom roller is also the MOST DANGEROUS roller to repair!
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how...e-door-rollers

So heed the warning in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...N-nFL80#t=204s

And read the DIY here.
http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instru...eplacement.php

You manually bend the track outward to make room to insert the roller.
http://www.youdoitstore.net/pdf/replacerollers.pdf

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 08:27:27 +0000, Danny D. wrote:

The tools the DDM tutorial used were the same as in the text-only DIY:
a. 1" long by 2.25" diameter pipe (i.e., wider than the bearing OD)
b. 1.25" collar with an outer edge of at least 2"

Wow. The bearings are in the end plates, but that was a PITA.
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12037581.jpg

a. There was NO WAY I was going to do this away from my shop!
b. It's nearly impossible without the right tools!
c. Even with the right tools, I'll bet it's not easy.

Without the right tools, I tried so many ideas that failed:
http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12037589.jpg

Every "bottom" collar I tried moved around too much:
http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12037604.jpg

Finally, I made a jig by drilling a 2 1/8" hole in the right spot:
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12037595.jpg

This kept the hole on the bottom from moving away from me:
http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12037609.jpg

The top collar wasn't so easily created!

I tried wood, metal, pipes, clamps, etc. You name it, I tried it:
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12037611.jpg

Finally, I hit upon the idea to use my OLD spring stationary cone!
It was exactly the right size for the OUTSIDE of the bearing.
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12037635.jpg

Sure, it's fragile cast aluminum ... and it was still a PITA:
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12037647.jpg

Finally, I had both bearings snugly pressed into the end plates!
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12037651.jpg

My advice to the next person attempting to push a bearing into
the bearing end plate?

Definitely buy a 1.25" ID collar, about 1/2" long, with an OD of
at least 2"!

I wish I had!

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:24:08 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

Wow. The bearings are in the end plates, but that was a PITA.
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12037581.jpg

a. There was NO WAY I was going to do this away from my shop!
b. It's nearly impossible without the right tools!
c. Even with the right tools, I'll bet it's not easy.

Not that it matters now, but a local machine shop, good mechanic or
bearing retailer outlets could seat the bearing in the plate for you.
A few bucks with little hassle. A bearing press would have been my
tool of choice for a few dollars cost, they have the tools.

Another idea would be a pneumatic air hammer.

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:56:05 -0800, Oren wrote:

A bearing press would have been my tool of choice for a
few dollars cost, they have the tools.

Hi Oren,
I was wondering when you were gonna help me out!

This is good advice. If only I knew then what I know now.

I tried to make my own bearing press (of sorts) out of wood:
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12042858.jpg

But, that was one of a half-dozen attempts doomed to failure.

BTW, WHAT PART of this bearing SHOULD we hit, and what part of
the bearing should we NOT hit?
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12042856.jpg

On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 04:13:27 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:56:05 -0800, Oren wrote:

A bearing press would have been my tool of choice for a
few dollars cost, they have the tools.

Hi Oren,
I was wondering when you were gonna help me out!

This is good advice. If only I knew then what I know now.

I tried to make my own bearing press (of sorts) out of wood:
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12042858.jpg

But, that was one of a half-dozen attempts doomed to failure.

BTW, WHAT PART of this bearing SHOULD we hit, and what part of
the bearing should we NOT hit?
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12042856.jpg


Instead of the wood you used, place a scrap piece of 3/4" ply flat
over the bearing and seat it with a pneumatic air hammer. Force from
the top. No harm to the bearing? The wood takes the damage to soften
the blow of the hammer. Your rubber mallet was not the tool.

You call always visit a machine shop to press a bearing for you... or
remove one.

Will this neighbor lady be making you a pot-roast dinner?

On 1/25/2013 11:12 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 04:13:27 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:56:05 -0800, Oren wrote:

A bearing press would have been my tool of choice for a
few dollars cost, they have the tools.

Hi Oren,
I was wondering when you were gonna help me out!

This is good advice. If only I knew then what I know now.

I tried to make my own bearing press (of sorts) out of wood:
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12042858.jpg

But, that was one of a half-dozen attempts doomed to failure.

BTW, WHAT PART of this bearing SHOULD we hit, and what part of
the bearing should we NOT hit?
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12042856.jpg


Instead of the wood you used, place a scrap piece of 3/4" ply flat
over the bearing and seat it with a pneumatic air hammer. Force from
the top. No harm to the bearing? The wood takes the damage to soften
the blow of the hammer. Your rubber mallet was not the tool.

You call always visit a machine shop to press a bearing for you... or
remove one.

Will this neighbor lady be making you a pot-roast dinner?


I use the conduit knock out punches that I have to press bearings
in/out. I turn the punch around and use the flat surface instead of the
cutting
end. ^_^

TDD

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:12:54 -0800, Oren wrote:

Your rubber mallet was not the tool.

Hi Oren,
Now you tell me!

You call always visit a machine shop to press a bearing

I plan on rebuilding three AO Smith 220V pool motors, so I
just might be needing that machine shop when spring rolls around.

Will this neighbor lady be making you a pot-roast dinner?

Dunno yet. Even though I was up 'till 4am getting those bearings in
place, she was too busy today to be home for me to finish the job.

So, at the moment, everything is on her garage floor ...

I'm worried about two things:
1. I 'hope' the reason for the crooked door was the bad bearing,
2. I 'hope' I can replace the bottom roller without problems.

I did email Dan Musick at DDM Garage doors. He doesn't recommend
replacing bearings as the plates with bearings don't cost a whole lot
more. So that's yet another lesson learned.

It's amazing how much you learn on just the first & second time you do
something new to you!

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 23:51:24 -0600, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

On 1/25/2013 11:12 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 04:13:27 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:56:05 -0800, Oren wrote:

A bearing press would have been my tool of choice for a
few dollars cost, they have the tools.

Hi Oren,
I was wondering when you were gonna help me out!

This is good advice. If only I knew then what I know now.

I tried to make my own bearing press (of sorts) out of wood:
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12042858.jpg

But, that was one of a half-dozen attempts doomed to failure.

BTW, WHAT PART of this bearing SHOULD we hit, and what part of
the bearing should we NOT hit?
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12042856.jpg


Instead of the wood you used, place a scrap piece of 3/4" ply flat
over the bearing and seat it with a pneumatic air hammer. Force from
the top. No harm to the bearing? The wood takes the damage to soften
the blow of the hammer. Your rubber mallet was not the tool.

You call always visit a machine shop to press a bearing for you... or
remove one.

Will this neighbor lady be making you a pot-roast dinner?


I use the conduit knock out punches that I have to press bearings
in/out. I turn the punch around and use the flat surface instead of the
cutting
end. ^_^

TDD

Sounds almost close. I bought a wheel bearing race & seal driver kit
from HF recently (for 4X4 front wheel hubs). By the looks of it I
could drive a bearing. Just flip the parts, and drive it in with a few
hammer blows.

http://www.harborfreight.com/10-piece-bearing-race-and-seal-driver-set-95853.html

Not the intended tool but I bet it could work for seating a bearing.

On 1/26/2013 12:43 AM, Oren wrote:
On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 23:51:24 -0600, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

On 1/25/2013 11:12 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 04:13:27 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:56:05 -0800, Oren wrote:

A bearing press would have been my tool of choice for a
few dollars cost, they have the tools.

Hi Oren,
I was wondering when you were gonna help me out!

This is good advice. If only I knew then what I know now.

I tried to make my own bearing press (of sorts) out of wood:
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12042858.jpg

But, that was one of a half-dozen attempts doomed to failure.

BTW, WHAT PART of this bearing SHOULD we hit, and what part of
the bearing should we NOT hit?
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12042856.jpg


Instead of the wood you used, place a scrap piece of 3/4" ply flat
over the bearing and seat it with a pneumatic air hammer. Force from
the top. No harm to the bearing? The wood takes the damage to soften
the blow of the hammer. Your rubber mallet was not the tool.

You call always visit a machine shop to press a bearing for you... or
remove one.

Will this neighbor lady be making you a pot-roast dinner?


I use the conduit knock out punches that I have to press bearings
in/out. I turn the punch around and use the flat surface instead of the
cutting
end. ^_^

TDD

Sounds almost close. I bought a wheel bearing race & seal driver kit
from HF recently (for 4X4 front wheel hubs). By the looks of it I
could drive a bearing. Just flip the parts, and drive it in with a few
hammer blows.

http://www.harborfreight.com/10-piece-bearing-race-and-seal-driver-set-95853.html

Not the intended tool but I bet it could work for seating a bearing.


I have a kit similar to that for removing/installing bearings in things
like electric motors and mechanical assemblies. I once did a lot of
repair work on automatic doors in grocery stores and hospitals and there
are a lot of bearings in those things. ^_^

TDD

On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 06:05:36 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

Will this neighbor lady be making you a pot-roast dinner?

Dunno yet. Even though I was up 'till 4am getting those bearings in
place, she was too busy today to be home for me to finish the job.

Any man staying up that late deserves a pot-roast dinner. Minimum!

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:52:53 -0800, Oren wrote:

Any man staying up that late deserves a pot-roast dinner. Minimum!

Thanks. She's a single mom, with twin kindergartners to raise alone.

I met her at a restaurant where she works as a waitress, so she doesn't
make all that much, so if I can save her a couple day's pay, it's the
least I can do to help.

I really want to finish this soon though, because I'm worried
about WHY the door was so crooked.

Here's a picture of what I found when I had arrived.
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12045827.jpg
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12045912.jpg

She said it was making noise, and then just stopped.

If anyone is good with garage door forensics, maybe you can help explain
how a bad bearing on the left side (looking from the inside) would cause
this (because I don't understand it yet).

Glad someone is looking out for the single moms.

Real shame that they make such bad decisions.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"Danny D." wrote in message
...

Thanks. She's a single mom, with twin kindergartners to raise alone.

I met her at a restaurant where she works as a waitress, so she doesn't
make all that much, so if I can save her a couple day's pay, it's the
least I can do to help.

I really want to finish this soon though, because I'm worried
about WHY the door was so crooked.

Here's a picture of what I found when I had arrived.
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12045827.jpg
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12045912.jpg

She said it was making noise, and then just stopped.

If anyone is good with garage door forensics, maybe you can help explain
how a bad bearing on the left side (looking from the inside) would cause
this (because I don't understand it yet).

On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:45:38 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:52:53 -0800, Oren wrote:

Any man staying up that late deserves a pot-roast dinner. Minimum!

Thanks. She's a single mom, with twin kindergartners to raise alone.

I met her at a restaurant where she works as a waitress, so she doesn't
make all that much, so if I can save her a couple day's pay, it's the
least I can do to help.

I really want to finish this soon though, because I'm worried
about WHY the door was so crooked.

Here's a picture of what I found when I had arrived.
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12045827.jpg
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12045912.jpg

She said it was making noise, and then just stopped.

If anyone is good with garage door forensics, maybe you can help explain
how a bad bearing on the left side (looking from the inside) would cause
this (because I don't understand it yet).


Looks like another single-spring door. Pretty sure that lopsided look
was explained on one the sites referred to earlier when you were doing
your door. As I recall, lateral movement allowed by bad bearing let's
the cable escape the spool. If one side is spooling the cable
differently than the other, you get a cocked door.
You're just making conversation. You know this by now.
Yes. I was paying attention. Mostly.

On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 09:42:28 -0600, Vic Smith wrote:

As I recall, lateral movement allowed by bad bearing let's
the cable escape the spool. If one side is spooling the cable
differently than the other, you get a cocked door.
You're just making conversation. You know this by now.

You give me more credit than I deserve, but, perhaps I should
apologize for not giving you enough credit in return.

I don't know whether the bearing was bad to start with as it
only fell apart after I started to bang on the 1-inch torsion
bar in an attempt to remove it to untangle the cable mess.

But, assuming the bad bearing was the initial problem, what
you said makes good sense if this is what is going on.

Here's a full-sized closeup of the bad bearing, in situ:
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12046951.jpg

This is what I think you are suggesting might have happened:
1. Bearing on left side goes bad (see pic above);
2. Spring, in middle, is trying to compress when door goes up
3. Bad bearing (presumably) allows the torsion bar to slide left;
4. That pulls the right (black) drum to the left;
5. That knocks the right side cable off the right cable drum;
6. The right side stops lifting (and stays on the ground);
7. The left side still lifts for a while until the door crooks.

The only problem conceptually I have with that bad-bearing scenario
(which fits the evidence) is that the torsion bar can't slide
all that much to the left even with a bad bearing since the
left cable drum would smack against the bearing end plate.

So, it can only side, oh, about an extra quarter inch (i.e., the
amount the bearing sticks out) or maybe a half inch (at most) to
the left. See closeup of the bad bearing next to a new bearing.
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12046992.jpg

However, that might be just enough to cause the right side drum
(which 'can' slide to the left) to unspool itself.

I am heading over to her house now, armed with the bearings, to
put it all back together.

As you had mentioned, this is a single-spring system. I considered
converting her to a dual-spring system, but the spring is only two
years old according to the paperwork she showed me, and she
(understandably) balked when I discussed her buying two new springs.

The parts so far were so cheap, I won't ask her for to reimburse
me (the garage door place simply said offhand to give 'em $15
cash for the three bearings & one drum, so I didn't even bother
getting a receipt).

As always, I'll provide an update to be a good nntp netizen.

PS: I enjoy discussing technical things so I appreciate your response.

On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 17:32:27 +0000, Danny D. wrote:
The only problem conceptually I have with that bad-bearing scenario
(which fits the evidence) is that the torsion bar can't slide
all that much to the left even with a bad bearing since the
left cable drum would smack against the bearing end plate.

Look at this closeup picture of the left bearing plate!
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12047123.jpg

Notice the scratch marks?
They're NOT on the right bearing plate.

Those scratch marks are evidence you are (probably) correct!

Simplified, this is what (might have) caused those marks!
a. Garage door torsion spring compresses as the door opens;
b. Broken left bearing allows left (red) drum to move left 1/4";
c. Torsion rod can't move any further left as drum rubs against plate!

I'm not sure why the cable didn't originally slip off the left drum,
but if the left drum moved left a quarter inch, so did the right drum.

That might be the real reason why the cable slipped off the drum!

On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:45:38 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

Here's a picture of what I found when I had arrived.
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12045827.jpg
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12045912.jpg

She said it was making noise, and then just stopped.

If anyone is good with garage door forensics, maybe you can help explain
how a bad bearing on the left side (looking from the inside) would cause
this (because I don't understand it yet).

Steel lift cables stretch, fray, break, and can slip off their winding
drums. Likely what happened in this case; perhaps nothing to do with
the bearing. Inspect the cable for damage and replace it if you find
any.

On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 10:39:43 -0800, Oren wrote:

Inspect cable for damage and replace it if you find any.

Hi Oren,

I ran my hand along the right cable & found one spot where
the wire had nicked enough to feel in my bare hand.
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049771.jpg

So I replaced both cables, and learned a lot because the
new cable was twice as thick as the old cable - so I wasn't
sure if it would fit... but it seemed to fit just fine.

It turned out to be pretty easy to replace the cables.
Here's a DIY, of sorts.

1. Remove the old cable from the bottom fixture post:
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049783.jpg

2. Measure the length and thickness of the old cable:
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049772.jpg

3. Purchase the closest alternative lift cable you can find:
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049773.jpg

4. Notice the new cable is twice as thick as the old cable:
http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049774.jpg

5. File off the edge of the crimped lead so that it won't rub:
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049775.jpg

6. Loop the cable onto the cable drum and secure in the slot:
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049777.jpg

7. Tighten torsion bar by hand & vise grip & wind spring:
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049778.jpg

On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 09:42:28 -0600, Vic Smith wrote:

lateral movement allowed by bad bearing let's
the cable escape the spool. If one side is spooling
the cable differently ... you get a cocked door.

That was it!

The bad bearing must have caused the cocked door!

Thanks for the advice & diagnostic help.

Here's a picture of the completed setup:
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049826.jpg

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:50:29 +0000, Danny D. wrote:

FINAL UPDATE ... LESSONS LEARNED:

The evidence leads us to conclude a bad left bearing caused the torsion
bar to shift 1/8" to 1/4" laterally leftward when the 16-foot wide by 7
1/2 foot tall steel Wayne-Dalton Foamcore garage door opened.

That tiny lateral slip apparently caused the steel cable to slip off the
right cable drum & then to tangle around the torsion bar, halting
movement of the garage door on one side, causing about a foot in tilt.

In summary:
a) Both bearing end plates steel bearings were removed & replaced.
b) The left cable drum was damaged so it was also replaced.
c) Both 1/16" x 8'5 3/8" lift cables were replaced (w 1/8" thick cables).
d) The spring nylon bushing was replaced with a steel 1 3/4" bearing.
e) Both bottom bracket steel rollers were straightened and replaced.
f) An additional lag screw was used to stiffen each bearing end plate.
g) The entire job had to be done with the door static, on the ground.

Total out-of-pocket cost was about $25.

No need to read further for a summary; however, there were many lessons
learned - some of which are detailed below (with explanatory photos).

Undoing the tangles took effort because I had to unwind the spring and
then lift the door by hand and support it on the ladder, as I manually
untangled the cables.

Initially rewinding the cables onto the drums and rewinding the spring
and manually operating the door, twice, caused BOTH cables to tangle on
the drum within a minute or two of hand operation.

Paradoxically, the torsion bar could not be twisted by hand without
adding leverage, which lead me to inspect the left bearing, which was
(later) found to have disintegrated. These semicircular scrape marks
were a clue that only later did I understand the significance of:
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049946.jpg

The 0.250x35x1.75LH spring, which was recently replaced (May 2011), took
only 27 1/4 quarter turns to unwind, but re-winding it took 29 quarter
turns (go figure) to balance the 6 1/2 foot tall door with 4" cable drums.

Inspecting all parts, I noticed a deep gouge was left in the torsion bar
from the tangled cables, but I had no access to a new torsion bar.
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049851.jpg

Removing the spring revealed the torsion bar had been crimped vastly too
deeply, which caused problems later on because neither the new steel
bearing for the spring anchor plate nor the winding end of the spring
would pass the deformed section (so everything had to be assembled from
the left side).
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049878.jpg

A few rollers were mangled & had to be removed & replaced. This turned
out to be easier than I at first thought it would be. After some
experimentation, I found the easiest way to R&R the bottom bracket and
cable with the door closed (hence limited space) was to simply flip the
bottom bracket UPSIDE down as shown in this photo below:
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049868.jpg

Inspection of the bearing end plates showed that the left drum had
scraped against the steel end plate, and, in the end, with some
difficulty, I pressed out the old bearing and inserted new bearings.

In hind sight, the bearing R&R would have been tremendously easier had I
the right tools, which consist of a 1.25" ID x 2"OD half-inch tall steel
collar and a 2" ID inch-tall steel pipe or 2" hole cut into wood.

Or, better yet, the lesson learned is to simply buy two new bearing end
plates with the bearings already inserted. Duh. The bearings were NOT
replaced when the spring was put on professionally in May of 2011, so the
lesson learned is always replace the bearings when you replace a spring.

Inspection of the spring anchor bracket showed a nylon bushing which was
replaced with a steel bearing, but this was not a necessary step.
http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049964.jpg

One cable was found to be very slightly frayed as shown in this photo:
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049771.jpg
So both cables were replaced. The length of the new cable was about 5/8"
longer and twice as thick as the original, which, much to my surprise,
did not seem to cause any adverse effects when wound on the cable drums.
Time will tell.

Replacing the cable was, at first, problematic, because I didn't know how
to get the cable onto the bottom bracket. It took about ten minutes to
figure out the easiest way was NOT to try to fit the loop over the post
with the bracket in place - but to remove and flip the bracket upside
down, and then loop the cable onto the post and replace the roller at the
same time.

The deep dimples in the torsion bar prevented the spring and bearing from
sliding from the right, and in the process of removing the torsion bar
multiple times, I accidentally punched a hole in the garage wall.
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049941.jpg

The bearing end plates each only had one lag screw on the supporting
wall, so I added a second lag screw as my prior experience indicates
problems can occur when bearing end plates move laterally (long story).
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049953.jpg

A vise grip was handy for keeping the torsion bar in the spring anchor
bracket while assembling parts repeatedly (preventing the 17-foot long
torsion bar from falling down).
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049957.jpg

The spring had to be bent in order to fit it onto the torsion rod with
the limited side-wall space in this cramped garage:
http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049974.jpg

It's hard to see in situ, but there was originally some slop in the
distance between the cable drums and the bearing in the end plate flags -
but this photo of the bearing pressed against the cable drum shows how it
is supposed to fit once on the torsion rod (there is not supposed to be
any room between the bearing and the drum):
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049992.jpg

Keying off a lesson learned in the past, a red line was painted on the
spring AFTER it was wound 29 quarter turns, so that, over time (years?),
any fatigue in the spring will show up as a slowly forming spiral (at
least that's the plan):
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12049998.jpg

Having two ladders (three would be even better) made a huge difference in
convenience, as was having good lighting all around (I bought and
installed new fluorescent tubes just so that I could see better).
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12050016.jpg

A trick I used to ensure I only tightened the set bolts 1/2 to 3/4 turn
after hand tightening was to paint one of the four flats with nail
polish, so that the movement of that one flat was easily noted:
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12050030.jpg

Normally, the torsion bar is centered so that an equal amount is sticking
out of each bearing end plate - but to move the spring winding cone set
bolts away from the deep dimples in the torsion rod, I pushed the torsion
rod to the right an extra inch or two:
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12050052.jpg

Well, that's about it for lessons learned in this, my second torsion
spring style garage door repair. Hope this helps others NOT make the same
mistakes I did.

In summary, since the spring was replaced less than two years ago, I
fault the installers for NOT replacing the bearings at that time, which
if they had, none of this would have happened.

However, I'm not without blame, as I really should have replaced the
torsion rod, and, truth be told, I feel badly that I didn't convert the
single spring to a two-spring setup - but that would have taken more time
and money (about $80 extra or so).

On Sun, 27 Jan 2013 06:47:08 +0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:


Total out-of-pocket cost was about $25.

Can't beat it with a stick, Danny.

Looks good from my house - in the dark