by Grummy » Sun Oct 30, 2022 9:02 pm
39 Pounds.... I mounted my spare on the back door. I never weighed it but perhaps a 15" tire on a steel wheel is at least 39 pounds.
Even though it is down as low as I could get, making it the closest to the pivot point when the door is horizontal (meaning the weight is not distributed out to the end as your flooring will do), Yes, I did have to adjust the spring because of it. And, yes, it was not only a sucky job to get it right, I did also get slightly injured, which can happen all too easily with any garage door spring.
IF YOUR NOT FULLY AWARE OF HOW NASTY AN ADJUSTMENT CAN GET, TAKE IT TO A PRO !
I seldom say such things. I personally have a pretty good grip on all things mechanical and have made adjustments to garage doors over the years. I even converted the swing doors to a ramp door on my Step van project. Understand right now that those ramp doors are very heavy, even when they are aluminum framed ones like mine. Make sure you do something to make sure that door can not fall down and smash whatever might be under it !
I did it with the door UP because there would be the least tension on the spring. I had to use vice grips to keep the shaft itself from turning at all because it had the tendency to unroll the cable from the very specific path the cables are supposed to be on as it wraps the pulleys.
Because I have a wall of sorts 10" in from the door, it was a bit more dangerous perhaps as I could not use a very long tool in the holes. If I had a helper, I may have opted to pull the door open perhaps a foot, block and loosen the spring capture, then wind the cable shaft back up to pull the door shut with pipe wrench or multiple Vice Grips.... Test and repeat.
I can't tell you how to do yours, but please.. BE CAREFUL !
As an aside, I sanded and stained my OE doors wood, the coated it with Varthane. Incredibly tough stuff. But, my next trick is to put on a photography backdrop of old brick. When the door is up, from the inside it will look like a brick wall. Good luck !