Track for overhead garage door

[Hookmaster]

In the summer when I open the overhead garage door with the opener, the door travels to almost to the stop. When it does this the light shuts off prematurely. I know I can change the length of travel but without changing the length of travel, in the colder weather it will not do this. Maybe this is related to the lubrication being thinner in the summer thus the door travels farther after getting the signal to stop. When I open the door without the opener and the door is almost all the way up, it speeds up a little at the end of travel and almost hits the stop. Looking at the horizontal portion of the track looks like it is lower on the end towards the operner. I haven't checked it with a level but if true gravity is contributing to the issue. Is this portion of the track supposed to be level?

[Dave]

I just measured mine, the end closest to the opener is lower from the ceiling by an inch.

[Surface Tension]

Level or close to it as long as you have the room between the opener and door.

With the door in the open(up)position, where is the bottom of the door in relation to the opening?

If the door is traveling further then it needs to be fully open then I'd for sure set it to stop sooner.

[Hookmaster]

When the door is opened by the opener I have it set so the bottom of the door clears the door frame. When I disengage the door from the opener (the pull release) when it is in the up position, it goes further, all the way to the stop.

The reason for all this is I had to replace the bottom bracket roller due to rust. I had to take the tension off the springs to do this. I counted the turns and rewound them to where they were (as set by a garage door professional last winter when both springs were replaced). I tried to manually open the door and it was quite heavy. Wound a little more and checked it. Could lift it manually but still harder than it should be. The door would not stay open in the middle, it wanted to close. When I raised it closer to the top it then went up by itself to the stop. I reset the springs where they were before I started this job.

I think I will level the tracks and also double check the levelness of the opener rail too.

[Dave]

I don't believe the opener track rail is suppose to be level.

[minnesotahusker]

The rail on the opener should not be considered on the same plane as the tracks(when the door is open). The opener is attached to the header almost 2-3 inches higher than the tracks are so the opener needs to keep the clearance so the door does not rub. After you install the pin on the mounting bracket for the opener, you would open the door all the way and set a 2x4 on edge and then set the rail on that, which would let you get your proper measurements for your hangers from the ceiling. If done correctly, the opener rail will actually drop a little in the back by the powerhead. It needs to be higher at the front mountain bracket because it has to have clearance for when the top section of the door goes through the radius when opening.

[Surface Tension]

It was my understanding the OP was asking about the door track and not the opener.

[Hookmaster]

I almost leveled the horizontal tracks on the garage door and the door still over travels (travels too far after the opener shuts off). If I unhook the door from the opener it is hard to lift and doesn't stay in the middle position, it wants to close. I think the bottom panel of the door is waterlogged from the melting snow last winter. As the door gets higher up, there is less weight on the springs so the door over travels. Might be time for a new door. I think its the original door from 1965.

[Macgyver55]

Does this have torsion springs or extension springs? If they are torsion style, then it sounds like they are not tensioned enough. The lift cables, when adjusted properly should stop the door from opening too far because once it is fully up, it should start putting tension back on the springs if it goes further past full opening. The fact hat it is not able to stay in the middle and is heavy to open makes this the likely problem.

Its kind of hard to explain but if you watch the cables while it gets opened you'll see what I mean.