1st timer, with a door opener/low headroom kit issue. Top section slams during close

[Catfish39]

Hello to all,
I just joined this forum because I'm at the end of my rope and quite desperate.
I've spent 6 days installing the best opener I could find, into my mother's garage so that she doesn't have to get cold/rained on anymore leaving the house and coming home. She's turning 70 soon and I just want her to be safe.

Anyways, I had to install a low headroom kit (from Lowwwes model#34128ZCDLG) because the door's top section was hitting the opener's drive belt rail when attempting to open.
This kit allows the top section of the door to go along the track at a slightly lower angle as the door opens.
Everything looked great. I finished the rest of the install and adjusted the opener's opening/closing cycles appropriately.
I hit the button, the door slid smoothly/effortlessly up and along the track and stopped perfectly. I may even have gotten a little teary-eyed at overcoming this great installation challenge.
I hit the button again to close.
The door was pushed nice and smoothly back down the track and everything looked perfect... until the last 4 inches of travel.
That's when the opener's door arm violently pushed/slammed the top section of the door forward and into the door's frame, with a loud THUD. Then, as the opener pushed the door through its last 4 inches of travel, that top section was dragged along the door frame, sliding/scraping as the door closed completely.
The issue seems to be that the opener's door arm, when pushing the door closed, pushes that top section "forward", during the last 4" of travel, instead of pushing in a more "downward" direction. This top section moves forward due to the low headroom kit, which acts like a hinge, pushing the section away from the roller/track when the door is almost closed.
Maybe the opener's door bracket needs to be moved up, or down, or maybe the opener's door arm needs to be extended, or retracted, so that the correct angle is achieved when the opener's arm pushes the door closed.

There must be someone else out there that has gone through this same problem. The door is balanced and everything works fine and its all lubed up and there's nothing catching on anything.

[TJR]

Maybe a dumb question, but why didn't you just raise the rail for the opener?

[Catfish39]

Thank you for that suggestion TJR
Oh I raised it ! lol
It's about 1/4" from the ceiling. It's as raised as it can raise. The trolley moves along that rail and in some places you couldn't even get a pencil between it and the ceiling.
I also took down the top door section and cut off ~3" which is as low as I can go with it.
All that, combined with the low headroom kit, and it just barely clears the rail when opening/closing.
I just want to add that nowhere on the opener's box or in the installation manual does it ever say anything about being sure you have __amount of headroom before attempting this install.
Today, I attempted to shorten the trolley arm and raise the trolley-to-door bracket as high as I could get away with, but the problem got worse. When closing, the trolley arm presses that top section into the door frame with such force that the motor's resistance sensor stops the closing cycle completely, about 2" shy of the ground.
So then I decided to try the opposite way. I lowered the door bracket a few inches, took off the L-shaped trolley arm and just used the straight trolley arm. I gave it a shot and... IT WORKS !!!!
By lengthening the trolley arm and lowering the door bracket, when closing, the trolley arm pushes on that top section in a DOWNWARD direction as it goes forward, instead of just in a STRAIGHT direction.
I think I've finally (12 drill holes later) cracked it.

[TJR]

I still try to figure out what happen here.
So you cut a 3" notch in your top section?
How much headroom do you have? Measure from floor to ceiling

[Catfish39]

No, I cut 3" off the top of the top section of the garage door... because it was hitting the opener's rail when opening. That's the ENTIRE top of the door section, not a notch.

Anyways, everything worked out great in the end. I lowered the door bracket, I got rid of the L bracket of the trolley arm, and I just used the straight bracket of the arm, and the result is that, when closing, the arm pushes DOWNward and forward, instead of UPward and forward.
Now I just have to fill in all the "extra" drill holes with wood putty and re-paint the door in those places.

[garagedoorsreno]

Yeah, raising the rail for the opener should solve the problem.