Replacing your garage door bottom rollers is relatively easy. You only need a few tools and some basic know how to do it.

First, you will need to bend the track. This can be done with a claw hammer or locking pliers. The goal is to create a gap where the roller can be pushed out of place.

1. Loosen the Bolts

All garage doors travel up and down on metal tracks that hang from ceiling joists. Rollers mounted in door brackets ride on the track and keep the doors on course. Over time, the wheels may loosen or break.

The process of replacing a bottom roller can be easy and relatively quick. The first step is to open your garage wrought iron door all the way. Prop it up with a 2×4, clamp a block of wood to the track, or have someone hold the door up so it doesn’t fall down on you. Also, don’t forget to turn off the garage door opener.

Next, if the track is bent or has visible signs of damage, use a winding bar to straighten it. It will likely be easier to do this than trying to bend the track by hand and can often be accomplished without removing the bracket.

After the track is straightened, you can reach up with a pair of channel locks or wide pliers and twist it slightly away from you. This will free up the top side of the track and allow you to easily replace the rollers. It will be helpful if you can have another person to assist with this step – one of you can lift the door while the other person is twisting the track.

2. Bend the Track

This is where things start getting more difficult and it’s a good idea to have someone help you with this part of the process. You’ll need to open the door all the way, prop it up with a 2×4, clamp a block of wood to the track, or have someone hold the door up so it doesn’t fall on you.

Then you’ll need to bend open part of the vertical track. This is easy enough to do with locking pliers but it would be even better if you had a friend who could help. Use them to bend one side of the track near the seam forward for a moment. This will create a little space for the new roller and make it easier to get into place.

Once you’ve created a little space for the new roller you can put it in place and tighten up the bracket with the bolts. Now it’s time to do the same thing on the other side of the track.

Just repeat all the steps you did on the first side of the track but don’t touch the top roller or the bend you just made. When you’re done with this side lower the door until the bent part of the track and the roller come at the same height again.

3. Remove the Roller

While the door is still open, a helper can hold it up while you bend the track open with pliers. This will give you access to the old rollers that are causing the noise.

Start with the bottom of the door panel and remove the safety clip and cable from the bottom bracket. Then, if you have one, use a long screwdriver to tap out the through bolts that secure this hinge to the track.

You can also remove the bolts that connect the A-shaped top bracket to the vertical track. This can be done by hand. But, if you do so, be careful not to break the top track section.

Next, lower the door to the point where the next bottom roller is next to the bent part of the track. Then, pry out the old roller and replace it with a new one. Repeat this process for the rest of the rollers on the bottom track.

Now, you can install the new rollers and make sure they’re seated correctly in their brackets. After installing each roller, close the garage door and test to make sure it runs smoothly along the track. If not, simply return to the previous step and try again. Finally, when you have replaced all the rollers and tapped them into place in the track, re-install the hinges that connected them to the track.

4. Replace the Roller

When replacing a roller it is very important to use caution to prevent the garage door from unexpectedly falling while you are working. Using a 2×4 or clamps to prop the door up can make this much easier and safer. Additionally, you should have someone help you during this process to ensure that the garage door roller replacement does not fall on you.

Once you have removed the old roller and have a new one ready, open the garage door all the way. This will allow you to easily find the hole in the track where the new roller will go and to mark it so that you can align it correctly when putting it back into place.

The first thing to do is to remove any bolts or screws securing the bracket onto the panel and set them aside in a safe spot. Next, carefully remove the bracket from the track and lift it up (angling if needed) to replace the roller. Finally, put the bracket back into place – making sure that you are lining it up with its outline and that the roller goes in the right hole.

After you have replaced the roller, close the track and bend it again using pliers (this is the same process that you used to do in step two). Once it is closed, test your rollers by telling your partner to lower the garage door until they reach the height of the bent track.