Has your garage door gone off track? Stop operating it immediately. If you continue to use it, you can cause some serious damage to pretty much every part of the door – from the panels to the trolley to the opener. The way a garage door works, all the moving parts need to be balanced and in their correct positions for the door to operate smoothly and not put too much pressure on the garage door’s springs, cables and opener motor. A garage door majorly (or even minorly) out of balance messes with everything.

Why Did My Garage Door Come Off Track?

By far, the most common reasons a garage door gets out of balance is because somebody accidentally hits it with a car, popping the rollers out of place – kind of like dislocating a shoulder, if you will. However, other causes include:

• Worn out/broken rollers
• Too much friction
• Worn/broken lift cables
• Bent/broken track
• Loose track
• Debris buildup in tracks

Whatever the cause, stop using the door as soon as you recognize the signs that your garage door isn’t running in balance anymore:

How Do I Know if My Door is Out of Balance?

There are a few ways to tell if your garage door has jumped its tracks… aside from if you can literally see the rollers on one side aren’t in the track anymore. But as most of us aren’t up close and personal with our garage door’s infrastructure on a daily basis, there are some signs and symptoms that your garage door is off balance:

• There’s a gap between the tracks and the rollers.
• The door is hanging visibly crooked.
• The garage door opener is having trouble lifting and lowering the door.
• The door gets jammed in a certain position.
• The garage door makes a noisy grinding sound each time you try to use it.
• The tracks are warped, bent, or their anchors have pulled out of the wall.

All these are potentially serious problems, and if you keep using your garage door and ignoring the excruciating crunching and squealing come from its parts, you’ll end up with a fully-broken garage door and a hefty repair and re-install bill.

If it’s already too late and the door has sustained damage, you’ll need to call in a professional garage door company for repairs. However, if the door has only slipped off its track and is not seriously damaged, you might be able to put it back onto the track yourself. Just remember to be careful. 

If the process derails at all, or you can’t figure out how to proceed, you should give us a call. Depending on the problem, you could end up with a broken garage door spring, belt, chain, roller, etc., and the more you mess with the door the more your garage door repair costs. Not to mention the safety issues.

Otherwise, check out this guide to getting a garage door back on track yourself, and see if your door problem looks like it’ll be corrected by this quick DIY:

Fixing a (Minorly) Misaligned Garage Door

Now, if the garage door is just a bit crooked, the track is just a bit bent, and the door can still move without too much trouble, you can proceed with this DIY garage door repair (cautiously):

• Start by releasing the garage door opener from the door. Find the rope or handle hanging from the center of the top of the door and pull it to disengage the door.
• Raise the door partially up manually until one set of rollers aligns with the area you are having a problem with. Lock a pair of clamping pliers onto the door and track to secure the door.
• Open the track where the garage door has become misaligned with a pair of pliers. If you’re lucky, there will already be enough space to guide the wheels back onto the track. Hammer the door back into place with a wooden or rubber mallet. A traditional hammer will leave unsightly dents on the door.
• Remove the locking pliers and lower the door back to the ground. Engage the garage door opener, which will re-catch the door and re-engage the release mechanism. Work the door up and down a few times to see if there are any problem areas in the rollers. If it goes up and down smoothly, congratulate yourself on a job well done.

What If the Tracks are Fixed But the Rollers Aren’t Moving Smoothly?

Take a look at your rollers when you have the track open during the procedure detailed above. Are they chipped, broken, rusty, warped, etc? It’s time to switch them out. Luckily, that’s a super-easy, quick step to add to getting them back in the track. Pro-tip: if your rollers are metal, switch them out with nylon ones – they run more smoothly, last longer, and create less friction.

That didn’t fix the issue? It’s probably time to give us a call. You could have a structural problem with the track anchors; the opener could need recalibrated; the door’s springs may be wearing out – there are a bunch of causes, and the more complicated they get, the more dangerous, too. That’s why we recommend have a garage door repair company handle any off-track issue larger than a simple misalignment.

Call SACS! Our Work is 100% Quality & Satisfaction Guaranteed!

If you have any problems or questions, or if the door has been damaged from going off track, call SACS GARAGE DOOR REPAIR in the Greater Sacramento area, including neighborhoods like Davis, Folsom and Rocklin. We’re on call 24/7 and all of our work is100% satisfaction guaranteed and performed by experienced, friendly professionals who are certified, bonded and insured.