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The following article is reprinted with permission by The Family Handyman magazine (a Reader’s Digest Publication).  This article can be found in the April 2009 issue of The Family Handyman, pages 72-73 (in the Question & Comment section).

QUESTION & COMMENT

By Rick Muscoplat
editors@thefamilyhandyman.com

QUESTION

Quiet a noisy garage door

My garage door makes a horrible racket when it opens and closes.  I’ve disconnected it from the opener to isolate the noise.  It’s definitely coming from the garage door itself.  How do I quiet it down?
     Chad Dormanen, Pittsfield, MA

The fixes are fairly easy and will take less than an hour.  Start by tightening all the door and track hardware (Photo 1).  Use a deep socket and a ratchet on all the nuts to snug them up.  But don’t overtighten—that can pull the carriage bolt heads right through the door skin or strip the lag screw holes.
     Next, check for worn rollers and hinges (Photo 2).  Many track rollers have unsealed bearings that self-destruct after years of rolling around in a dirty environment.  The wear can be so severe that the rollers actually wobble as the door operates.  If your rollers are worn, consider replacing them with nylon rolls with sealed bearings.  One source is garage-doors-and-parts.com.  Nylon rollers are quieter and don’t require periodic oiling.  But they are more expensive ($10 vs. $4).
     Replace track rollers one at a time (Photo 2).  If your door uses torsion springs mounted n the header above the door, do NOT attempt to replace the rollers in the bottom brackets.  Those brackets are under constant spring tension and can cause serious injury if you unbolt them.  That’s a job for a pro.
     Worn hinges are less common than worn rollers. But sloppy hinges make a lot of noise and can cause the door to bind and wear out the tongue-and-groove joints at the door sections. Some play at the hinge is normal.  But if you see an oblong hole where the tubular hinge pin mates with the hinge bracket, replace the hinge.  Gray dust and metal filings around the hinge pin are early signs of wear.
     Once you’ve replaced the worn door components, spray the hinges, roller bearings (unsealed style), and springs with garage door lube (such as Multi-Purpose Spray Lube; $9 from garage-doors-and-parts.com).  Also hit the torsion bar bearings, the opener track and any other pivot points.  The special lube penetrates the parts as a liquid and dries to form a non-tacky grease that won’t attract dirt and dust, which can gum things up.  Lubricate all moving parts every six months to reduce wear and keep the door quiet.  Avoid other lubricants such as oil, grease, or spray lithium grease.  They’re cheaper, but they don’t penetrate as well and tend to pick up dust and grit—just what you don’t want on moving parts.