Track

Each side has a vertical section beside the opening, a curved section, and a horizontal section running back into the garage on hangers. Alignment matters more than it looks: a track bent by a car bumper or knocked out of plumb makes the door bind, and binding is what eventually forces a roller out.

Tracks are cleaned, never greased. Grease collects grit and turns the channel into an abrasive. Lubricant belongs on hinges, rollers and the spring, not in the track.

A door off its track costs $150–$300 to reset, but resetting it without finding out why it came off buys the same call-out again.

The most useful thing a homeowner can do about tracks is look at them. With the door closed, sight up each vertical track: it should be straight, snug against the door edge and firmly bolted to the jamb. Dents from a bumper, a gap that widens toward the top, or a loose bracket all make the door bind, and binding is what eventually forces a roller out of the channel. If a door has come off its track more than once, the cause is nearly always alignment rather than bad luck, and fixing the track is what stops the third call-out.

Tracks come in different gauges and different curve radii, most commonly a 12-inch or 15-inch radius, and the radius has to suit the headroom above the opening. Where there is not enough room for a standard curve, a low-headroom conversion uses a tighter track and a modified cable arrangement instead. This matters when you are quoted for a new door: a door specified for one radius will bind on the other. Also check that the horizontal tracks are properly supported on hangers back into the garage — a sagging horizontal track pulls the door out of line at the top of its travel and wears the rollers unevenly. If you are having a new door fitted, ask whether the existing tracks are being reused. Reusing them is normal and often perfectly sound, but tracks that were already dented or out of plumb will hand the new door the old door's problems on day one.

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