It is best to use a Lithium-based lubricant because it can prevent rust and corrosion while adding durability to all moving parts in your garage door.
As an alternative, if you can’t find lithium grease at your local hardware store, the next best thing would be a silicone spray, it’s not as good as lithium, but it’s a hundred times better than using oil. (Below) in this article, you’ll learn how to lubricate a garage door and solve that noisy problem with do-it-yourself solutions and some valuable information.
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Why You Shouldn’t Use Oil to Lubricate a Garage Door
One of the most common mistakes homeowners make when lubricating their garage door is using oil like the ever-popular WD-40. With WD-40 and oil, they are de-greasers, removing the grease rather than helping their situation.
How to Lubricate a Garage Door (7 simple steps)
You want to lubricate all the moving parts of the door. First, make sure your doors are in the closed position and then disconnect the door from the motor. You will want to spray the parts like the doors manually from below around the end of the track. Ensure you hit all the hinges, the pivot point, stems, nubs, locks, and the arm.
The next thing you’ll want to lubricate is the garage door rollers. The most common rollers that most garage door and manufacturing companies are using are metal or plastic rollers.
1. When Lubricating Garage Door Plastic Rollers
If you have plastic rollers, you can lubricate them up a bit; I am not sure how well they will work because plastic rollers do not have ball bearings and only last a few years.
2. When Lubricating Garage Door Metal Rollers
With metal rollers, you can see the ball bearings. The exposed ball bearings always need to be lubricated; use the straw tube of your Lithium Spray can to get in there and fill it. Remember that you will do this with the rollers placed on the door track. So make sure you do it with good lighting, and you may need a ladder, depending on your height.
3. Do Garage Door Sealed Bearing Rollers Need Lubrication?
Garage door-sealed bearing rollers don’t need lubrication, so there is nothing to lubricate. I recommend replacing your garage rollers with sealed bearing rollers because the ball bearings are not exposed, so again, they do not require maintenance. The other thing you will want to lubricate is the pulleys if you have a pulley.
Do Garage Door Rollers Wear Out?
Yes, you can see the ball bearings in the center of the roller; as they age and wear out, they will have much more movement than that, but at that point, lubricating is not going to do anything, so you are going to have to replace them anyway.
Just use the straw tube to get in there; remember that your pulley would be in position, so once it is lubricated, work the pulley up and down a few times. If you have a pulley with a seal, there are no exposed bearings, so there is no lubricating point like the seal bearing rollers; this pulley is maintenance-free.
4. When Lubricating a Garage Door Chain
When it comes to the garage door opener, the most common mistake owners make is lubricating the chain. Garage door opener chains leave the factory with a protective coating already on, which should last the motor’s life. If you ever feel the need to help maintain it, take an extended cloth with some WD-40 and wipe it off; that will clean and keep some moisture out of the chain.
What you can do is lubricate the top of the rail, which is where the chain moves back and forth, grabs the top of the rail, and that’s where all the friction is. Most homeowners spray the bottom of the rail, which won’t hurt, but it won’t do anything either; it will just create a mess drip all over the car and floor.
5. Should You Lubricate a Garage Door Track?
No, you don’t need to lubricate a garage door track; if you think you see symptoms that make you feel you need to lubricate the track, you have something wrong with your garage door.
Some people may start adding oil or packing in more grease over time; the wind will blow dust and dirt and harden the grease like cement. However, on the track, what you can lubricate is a particular part of the track with a brake and the bolts that are screwing the two pieces together, it is not necessary, but it is the only place on the track that I would recommend. Remember, the tracks do not need to be greased; they need to be cleaned. That is something you can easily do with a damp cloth or a little WD-40.
6. Should You Lubricate Garage Door Springs?
When it comes to lubricating garage door springs, you won’t need to lubricate if you have extension springs; because due dipped coated technique, these rollers do not require any care.
However, if you have a torsion spring, it will require some lubrication. Instead of the springs stretching, the torsion springs coil up, so you’ll want to lubricate them; even when they’re new, they tend to make some noise, but that’s because the coils rub against each other.
7. When Lubricating a Garage Door Torsion Spring
All you have to do is take out the Lithium Spray straw and cover it from one end to the other, lower the door a couple of times, and let the lubricate work independently. The lubrication will do two things on your torsion spring:
- It will reduce the amount of noise you hear from friction.
- Most companies only use hardened or oil-galvanized springs, so the lubricate will help prevent rust buildup.
The last thing you need to grease on a torsion spring door is the support plates.
The door bar sits inside these bearings; when you roll up the spring, all the energy is transferred to it, and the bar rotates inside the bearings. Unfortunately, the bearings and plates are not accessible unless you remove the springs.
Dust-covered springs are the ones that have been dipped and coated in and out, and therefore you won’t need to worry about rust buildup. So, by going to the manufacturer and getting a new spring from them or maybe going to a Home Depot, you can get a spring covered on the outside but not on the inside.
I recommend asking your garage door specialist or Home Depot salesman and find out if they have the springs bent on the outside because it is the best investment you can make. After all, it is maintenance-free.
Note: I would not recommend the average homeowner, if they feel they need service, to contact a professional garage door technician for an evaluation immediately.
The garage door is the largest part of your home, and if it is not working correctly, it can pose a severe threat of a dangerous situation.
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