When homeowners think about their garage door, they think the only important component is the motor. After all, the motor is what gives the door power. It’s what moves the chain, pulling the garage door up or down.
While it is important, it’s pointless without garage door rollers. Most homeowners don’t even know what these rollers are, as they are usually hidden.
But with malfunctioning follers, your door won’t be able to open or close. If you want your door to last a long time, you need the best rollers that you can get.
Usually, you have two options: steel garage door rollers or nylon garage door rollers (plastic). Which is the better option? Keep reading below to find out now.
What Are Garage Door Rollers?
Rollers are attached to the sides of your garage door. They are hard to see, as they sit inside the rails that your garage door moves on.
Take a look inside these rails and you’ll see a number of small wheels. These are your door rollers. They have a ball bearing inside and make it easy for the garage door to slide up or down in the rails.
If these get rusted or damaged, you might experience loud noises are your garage opens. Or, your door might not move at all or work really hard to move.
If that’s the case, it’s time for an upgrade.
Plastic vs Metal Garage Door Rollers
So, what type of garage door roller should you choose? The temptation is to buy cheap plastic ones. While they are the most affordable option, they won’t last nearly as long or perform very well.
Generally, you should only use plastic rollers on small, one-car garage doors made of lightweight materials. Plastic rollers usually don’t come with ball bearings, making them very basic. You can find plastic roller bearings, however, which drastically improve the performance of plastic rollers.
Two-car garage doors, or garage doors made of wood, metal, or other heavier materials, should use either steel or nylon rollers, which is a type of composite roller material.
Durability
Most people assume that steel makes for a longer roller life. In some instances, this is true.
Steel is extremely durable and hard to break. Yet, steel is susceptible to moisture damage and can corrode over time. This is especially true for those in wet, humid climates where constant moisture is a threat.
Where humidity exists year-round, nylon is the preferred choice, as it doesn’t corrode due to excess moisture.
Functionality
Steel rollers are simple and surprisingly affordable. But because the tracks are also made of steel, that means constant steel-on-steel contact. That can lead to chips and cracks over time.
This can affect the performance over time leading to higher rolling resistance and louder noises. If you want smooth and quiet rollers, then nylon is the go-to choice. As a result, nylon rollers tend to be the most expensive.
If you want your garage to be nice and quiet so you don’t wake your kids up when you leave early in the morning, it’s worth the extra few dollars.
Buying the Right Rollers the First Time
It’s very easy to overlook garage door rollers. When your door is noisy, most people blame the motor. But more often than not, it’s the rollers that are in need of repair or replacement.
When buying a new set of rollers, choose the highest quality ones you can find to ensure you won’t have to replace them again in the future.
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