Common Mistakes Using Wrong Garage Door Struts 

That may be true Mr Mike. But there is a garage door strut that is perfect for confident, handy DIY'ers. Have you seen my lastest video on it?

There's a company out there selling a modular strut they ship to you that I came across online a few weeks ago. Don't know yet if it's the one SOS is referring to.

Thanks for the feedback John. Yes there are a couple of distributors that ship these types of struts out. DDM is one of them. I made a video about the other distributor on their sturt. They are from Five Star Doors.

@@sosgds I think it was 5 star doors I saw, they had a range of extra thick guage hinges I was looking at.

Mike did it ever occur to you the liability that you buy an item that can fall back on them for you not being a trained pro? You could literally sue them, no company in their right mind would do that! Now don't you wonder why your local hardware store doesn't sell this to the public??

They do get a 3inch thick Raynor no struts

Builders typically want the cheapest door. Most homeowners price shop. Many places don't require windload doors, so just one strut is installed on the top section. If I recall, a 16' strut is about $25 each. That would add $100 to the cost of the door since the springs also need to be upgraded.

@@Eaglefreek300 New garage door sections are not cheap. I'm not going to quote the price I was given, because I still don't believe I heard the salesman right, even though I asked him twice.

@@Rextrent some garage door companies charge exorbitant prices. As a garage door business owner myself, I understand the costs involved, but some companies are absolute ripoffs. I don't know how they get customers.

Hello Tim. Unfortunately Lowe's nor Home Depot will sell the single piece struts for garage doors. Yet you can find a 3 piece strut to work for most doors from Amazon or Five Star Doors Struts. Additionally, the video is designed to highlight the common mistakes from applying the wrong garage door struts. When you apply any strut it will effect the door weight and cycle life to the torsion springs. This the most common mistake. If this concept is overlooked or simply disregarded it will cause problems to your garage door system. Thus I emphasize the importance of the spring to save customers on their garage door repair investment.

Very very long video

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your making the video to help others like me.

agreed, being concise is not his strong suit but if you can filter through all of his thoughtful wandering, its very informational

Of course, despite the long video, it is still informational and helpful. I am grateful that he took the time to make the video to help others.

I'm glad it was helpful!

Yeah it's also funny when your neighbor attempts open heart surgery and the tools he uses when he's does it. All us real surgeon's get together and make fun of them cause they don't know what they doing. I wouldn't use the term hilarious as such. Perhaps "unique" would be a better fit. It's not funny when someone doesn't know how to do something it's simply lack of understanding.

@@briantaylor2130 he was just saying, don't get on his ass. I'm sorry you have anger issues but you talk to your therapist about it. have a nice day and don't be rude to people!!

@@GarageDoorGuy59 Im sorry, what was it that I said, that leads you to believe I have an anger issue? The only thing I did was make a observation regarding use of words and how people should be aware of the words they choose when describing people or events especially when time permits that individual to do so. Being a homeowner myself one might be inclined to take offense to this, or portray homeowners as being incompetent and is something to be laughed and joked about.

@@GarageDoorGuy59 Furthermore I found useful information regarding garage doors in your videos as well .

Excellent insight! Incorrect springs will cause a number of issues with the garage door system.

Thank you for this excellent insight! A lot of what you mentioned did happen to this specific garage door system. Additionally the four setting was too strong for this opener thus causing that damage to the top section. We appreciate your feedback!

@@sosgds Your welcome Me and my Judy are in the Overhead Door Business for over 40 years . Jude passed away last November she was excellent in helping me better then most installers . I’m a perfectionist and Started working for Overhead Door Corporation was taught correctly. Most Companies & Homeowners Don’t have any how much is involved in doing things correctly and all the Engineering also the Liabilities go into having a OHD Business . Also Dangerous even the vise grips should be put next to the outside of the End Bearing Plate so when winding the Springs the tube doesn’t cause injury or death . I see nothing on You Tube showing that placement at all . Anything added to the door changes the weight of the door and effects the proper springs . Or if set screws are tightened to tight causing the Winding Cones to Explode . Just a few things that I see and many more Mistakes on You Tube . Have a Great Day 🌞

You can find door struts on DDM website. And as for the latter point, it's a truth I am well aware of.

A canoe paddle?! 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣 Man that's ingenious!

@@sosgds 😅😁

Hello! So you are looking for barn style garage doors? Am I understanding you correctly?

Me too. I saw barn style and folding and automatic opening company. Of course price as customer built. ?

I wanted my 8 ft width flap garage door into room with 10ft width, glass french swing door so I can still use for suv parking as needed. But the guy had 8 ft french door in. I am trying to have it back to my new suv. 10 ft french door is over $ 4000 homedepot nowadays and new beam/ framing needed. The only inconvenience is manually opening the french door but will keep the beauty of the garage room with beautiful view. Dang, all it drive me . . . . so have ben sorting out. *

Hope it works out for you.

Great question. Generally, you want one main strut on the top door section. Then you can apply an additional strut on to any section that requires it. It can be applied along the middle of the door section. Or you can do what I do, and apply the strut along the hinges of the door sections. The holes to the door section can provide a guide to apply the strut easily.

Greetings from So Cal! How's it going in the Central Valley! What garage doors do you prefer? What garage door openers do you like to install?

Hello! Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate your support for the channel. It would be my honor to meet you also.

Excellent observation. The door stile was definitely one reason. Thank you for your insight!

Thanks Rafa!

Thanks for the feedback John. I will say it definitely added extra heft to the door. I didn't take them off. I just installed new springs to accomodate for the weight.

Great questions! I like to use 8 ... Two at the ends. 2 in the middle. 2 more just one top one the other door stiles.

Thanks for the question. What type of garage door operator are you installing?

Hello. Based on what you have described it does not sound like your 9000 series garage door was wind rated. That top strut should have been applied to the other sections. Of course you can install additional struts, yet it will add weight to the door which can affect your spring cycle life. Thus you want to replace your springs if you plan on altering the door in any way.

Thank you for the great question. In this case you would need to raise your track assembly to gain the extra height. To my knowledge I am not aware of a 1" garage door strut. But raising your garage door would also require changing your motor to a side mount or wall mount garage door motor. And that additional cost might not be a budget friendly than finding a 1" thick door strut.

Hello. That question would depend on which contractor you are dealing with. Take into account that every brand and manufacturer has a different quality of garage doors.

This is a great question. I prefer no sag. Yet I have seen on custom wood doors a visible sag which is usually an indication of heavy weight. I have also seen it on non insulated garage doors. The 'sag factor' will usually fall back on the integrity of the garage door. And cracks or damage to the center stiles is a good indication that their door needs support.

Hello. You should be fine with a 2 1/4" strut.

Thank you for sharing your experience. A garage door contractor might offer you a deal on a strut installation. Hope it works out for your daughter.

Hello. Try this site. Their struts are easy to install. www.fivestardoors.com/garage-door-struts/

That's a great deal. Do you know of that's a Black Friday price?

As a garage door technician, for the past 23 years, it’s a dog eat dog market out there. Companies are charging beyond inflated prices, and then bragging about it. It’s honestly a shame. Wouldn’t be the same if the tables were turned, but nonetheless companies are flat out ripping customers off. If $75 is a “good deal “, which is $4.69 a foot, then it’s just bad bad news to know what is really being charged. I’m not saying $75 is a bad deal, but definitely not a penny more than $80. Anything beyond that is just crazy to me, and I’ve been in this industry for over 2 decades. Struts do not fix garage doors, they only prolong how much longer they are going to last. Companies are making a killing selling components, the mark ups are beyond unfair, and people are loosing trust in techs because they flat out know they are getting ripped off. Like the old saying, pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered If you find yourself having to add struts to your door, it’s time to look at replacing it The garage door is the biggest moving object in your home and it can and will fall on your car, or even worse get someone seriously hurt. This is a great channel, the creator comes across as an honest man, but what’s really fair is my question. If $75 is a good deal, even Black Friday special, then heck I’d hate to know what’s charged outside of that. $5 a foot is beyond fair for a 2” galvanized strut, $7 at most a foot for 3”.

This door was a 16 by 7.

Hello. Great question. The truth is you can make every effort to reinforce your top garage door section, and it will work for a certain period of time. Yet in time and with more wear and tear the integrity of the garage door will fail. Thus applying a strut or even perforated angle iron can be a viable solution, it's still a temporary solution. Additionally, the crack to the top section can create resistance to the door. Therefore, if you are able to invest into a new garage door now, it might save you time and money once your garage door suddenly fails. Hope this helps.

@@sosgds Thanks for the advice. The crack was there when we moved in 20 years ago and only recently did the door start having issues because of the slight bow at top center. I think that reinforcing it at the top for 4ft each direction will be the first course of action to minimize, if not entirely eliminate, the deflection. There is no other apparent damage and if a $40 piece of metal gets me another 5 to 10 years I'd say I got my moneys worth. Investing in a whole new door right now is certainly not necessary. I'm also not into the new school of our "throw-away society". If things are able to be fixed and mended that's typically what I do until I know the time and labor isn't worth the effort (like with most German cars for example) 😆

Hello! That's a very valid point. You're not being negative at all. These questions can help the community when something like this arises for both customers and contractors. Before any work is performed a contract is signed. The contract will set the scope of work, limitations, exclusions, and above the release of liability. Therefore the customer knows this beforehand. Thus if and when another issue manifests that is not related to the service performed then no one feels blindsided or bamboozled. It was all established in writing. Thank you for pointing this out. It allows us professionals to do our homework and protect our reputations. Thanks for sharing your feedback.

Hello. The cost could vary in your area but it ranges between $250 - $350 depending on the door needs.

Hello. Great question. They claim their doors are 24 gauge. But they band like a 26 gauge. Many have debated that claim.

@@sosgds what do you mean by "band" ?

@@kkp4297 sorry "bend".

Hello! Nonsense the internet is a breeding ground for judgement of all sorts, but I thank you refraining. And thanks for the comment!

Made me laugh.

Hello JB. SOS Garage Door Service. 😁👍 Thanks for the support.

I'm so sorry to hear you're going thru this situation. How did the damage to these sections manifest? Are you speaking to a Wayne Dalton dealer or the actual manufacturer?

Hello. I'm sorry are you asking a question?

Hello. I normally don't disclose the area where I'm at through this medium. If you like you can direct message me through my Instagram social media or even through my Facebook page. You should be able to find me under the same company name SOS Garage Door Service. Thank you.

So you're saying I should just stick with a good'ol John Deere cap? Noted!

Well said! Thank you for your feedback!

Not at first but now I do.

Thanks for the feedback.