In this blog entry, the expert garage door opener installation team here at Garage Door Repair Chicago will detail the various factors that impact the longevity of garage door rollers.

Garage Door Rollers Material

Steel garage door rollers offer the most durability – but also are the loudest, and come at the highest price. Nylon is quieter and cheaper, but somewhat less durable. Plastic is the least durable, but the cheapest – however, due to their lack of ball bearings, they can be noisy.

Factors that Impact Garage Door Roller Wear

Weather – when exposed to rain and moisture, metallic garage door parts can rust rapidly. Stainless steel has more resistance to this – which is what makes it an ideal material in car washes!

Level of Usage – if your garage door is used multiple times a day, the rollers will wear out faster than if the garage door is only used once. Garage door rollers are built to last for a certain amount of cycles – and when that number is hit, they will need to be replaced.

Garage Door Track Maintenance – by regularly inspecting your garage door tracks and rollers, you can stop smaller issues before they snowball into bigger ones, increasing the lifespan of your garage door rollers.

Track cleaning – make sure to remove debris from your garage door tracks, and add lubricant to them periodically. This will increase the longevity of your garage door rollers.

Replacing Garage Door Rollers

Garage door rollers should be replaced when they stop working ideally – which is usually between 10 and 20 years. Plastic garage door rollers will need to be replaced sooner. In order to figure out if it’s time to replace your garage door rollers, disconnect your garage door from the automatic opener and pull on the manual cord to see how much the garage door drags too much. And if it does, contact a garage door roller replacement expert like those here at Garage Door Repair Chicago!