Garage door shift

[Hemlock781]

Looking for a solution to correct door shift. I recently had a 9x7 Garage door installed. It's level and the tracks are plumb, however with the door up and centered on tracks, the door shifts to the right when lowering, causing a large 1 1/2" gap on left side and 1/4" gap on right side looking from within. And it stays shifted to the right going up or down. I can center it but after going up and down once it shifts to the right. The torsion spring is attached on the left side of the bar. Any solution would be helpful.

[TinyTool]

Hey! From what you're describing, it seems like the door is going out of alignment as it moves, which usually points to uneven tension in the lift cables or a slight issue with how the cable drums or spring were set up.

Even though your tracks are level and plumb, sometimes one side pulls harder than the other, causing the door to shift to one side as it goes up and down.

Here are a few things you could check:

• Make sure both lift cables have the same tension. If one side is looser, the door will shift that way.
• Check that the cables are sitting properly in the grooves on the drums at the top.
• Double-check that the torsion shaft and drums are centered and tight.
• Take a look at the rollers and tracks for any wear or small bends. Even slight issues there can throw things off.

Since this is a new installation, it might be worth contacting the installer to see if they can fix it free of charge. If you're not familiar with adjusting springs or cable drums, it's probably safest to call a garage door technician, since those springs can be dangerous to work with.

Hope that helps a bit!

[Hemlock781]

Yes, it was installed about 3 months ago and I called the contractor up to see why it was shifting to the right. I also mentioned to him that the right-side cable was slightly loose compared with the left cable which was like a guitar string. He wasn't concerned about it, nor did he adjust it. Only loosened some bolts and adjusted with hammer and tightened bolts back up and said it was now working correctly. It still shifts to the right though. Thanks for the advice. I will have to call another contractor to get it adjusted again.

[TinyTool]

Thanks for the update. If one cable is tighter than the other, that usually means the door isn't balanced correctly, which would explain the shifting. Loosening bolts and adjusting track alignment might help with some shifting issues, but it typically won’t fix uneven cable tension without directly adjusting the cables or drums.

It’s probably best to have another contractor take a look. A proper adjustment of the cables and a check of the torsion system should get things working the way they should.