Garage Door Off Track: What To Do and What Not To Do

A door that has jumped its track is the failure people most often try to fix themselves, and it is the one where doing so reliably makes things worse and occasionally puts someone in hospital.

How you know that is what happened

The door sits visibly crooked in the opening, one side higher than the other. There may be a roller sitting outside the track, or a section of track bent away from the wall. The door usually jams partway and will not go either direction.

Sometimes it still moves, grinding and shuddering. That is worse, not better. Every further inch of travel bends more track and can pull the cable drums out of alignment.

What causes it

Almost always one of four things. Something hit the door, and a car bumper is the classic. A roller wore out or its stem snapped. A cable came loose or broke on one side, letting that side drop while the other kept lifting. Or the track was knocked out of alignment and the rollers finally lost their grip.

On an older door it is often the second and third together: worn rollers put load somewhere the cables were never designed to carry, and one lets go.

What not to do

• Do not keep pressing the opener. It will pull against a jammed door and can burn out the motor or bend the top section.

• Do not lever the door back into the track with a crowbar. The door is under spring tension and can drop.

• Do not park under it or walk under it while it is stuck part open.

• Do not pull the manual release cord while the door is part open unless someone is holding the weight. On a door with a broken cable, releasing the opener can let the whole thing come down.

What to do instead

Stop using the door. If a car is trapped inside and the door is stuck open, the vehicle can usually be moved out, but do not run the opener again. If the door is stuck closed and you need the garage, wait for someone who can hold the door while it is released.

Then send a photo. From inside the garage with the lights on we can usually see whether it is a roller, a cable or bent track, and turn up with the right part rather than diagnosing it on your driveway.

Can it be repaired, or is the door finished?

Most off track doors are repairable. Rollers, cables and a bent section of track are all replaceable parts. What decides it is whether the door sections themselves are bent. A door that has been forced repeatedly after coming off track often has a creased top section, and at that point you are replacing panels rather than hardware.

That is the real cost of forcing it, and it is why this page exists.

Get a real answer on your door

Modern Empire Doors has served the GTA since 2018 from 138 Yorkland St, Richmond Hill. Text a photo of the door from outside and one from inside the garage to 647-323-1826 and we will tell you what you are actually dealing with.

• Call or text: 647-323-1826

• Open 24/7, including weekends

• Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Markham, Toronto, Aurora, Newmarket, York Region and Durham Region