I'm Andrew, the owner of Five Star Doors and the supplier of your strut kit. I Want to thank you for the great video. 2 points 1st A 16ft strut kit measures out to 191.25 inches. The 3/4in shortness prevents the upper door tracks from rubbing against the strut. Not all doors, But many. Second, it's best to install the strut kit as close to the damaged area as possible. Only insulated doors need to be installed over the hinge. Always try to install just above or below a hinge. Again, great video.
Thanks for the info!! I'm pinning your reply. Since installing this I've noticed that most garage doors have at least a couple of these installed. It has made a night and day difference.
Andrew, I’m really happy that you replied to this video. I wanted to offer a little constructive feedback on your product which by the way I think is pretty great. The instructions are not great and I mean that with all due respect. There are no indications in your drawings of what is supposed to be the top of the garage door or the bottom of the garage door and therefore, your drawings do not indicate whether you’re ready recommendation is putting, the brace in above or below a hinge. I actually had to watch this video in order to figure out how to install this item. I hope this doesn’t seem like a minor thing because for DIYers instructions are very, very important
I really appreciate that you created this video! I wanted to point out that the tip that you provided about clamping the connector to each of the 8 foot struts before starting to connect them together was most valuable. I also liked how you pre-fit the pieces and made a measurement for the complete length. That was well thought out. Great piece of work!
Thanks for this video, this cleared up some of the confusion I had with the instructions, but after watching your video, I was able to install it in a little over half an hour. I had help from my brother who was visiting from Phoenix and it went pretty smoothly. I had another installed about 8 years ago by a professional near the top but I never realized the importance of having two on until my door started dipping near the bottom. The hardest part about the kit was separating the pieces right out of the box. Using a couple of standard screw drivers did the trick. Thanks again!
I just installed a Five Star. Took about 45 minutes. Worked like a charm. I installed the center piece first, then added the sides. Now for some nylon rollers.....
Great video...mine is buckled at the top, so will be a little more involved. Other videos are just pushing a product instead of showing the process like you did.
Awesome video. Just did mine with your help. Apparently my door is 15’ so I had to cut off about 2” on both pieces using an angle grinder because out of the box it was too long. Easy installation. definitely helps if you have help just so they can hold it in place and make sure it’s level. A couple of my panels are cracked and it used to bow but it no longer does that
I had a similar problem. My garage door was 16’ x 8’, bowing in the middle and also reversing. If I pushed it in with my cane as it was going up it worked, otherwise it would reverse. The garage door was 16 years old with a newer screw drive Genie opener. My local Menards (I’m in the Chicago area) had these struts in stock, in 16’ ($16) and 9’ ($12) lengths. I first installed the 16’ length, but I still had problems, so I purchased the 9’ length, this did the trick. However , the garage door with the extra weight was giving the garage door opener problems. I rebalanced the door and then it worked fine, so I thought. January 1, 2019, the garage door spring broke and so dis the Genie door opener. I called my local garage door serviceman and I got a new garage door and a belt drive 3/4 hp Liftmaster belt drive opener with battery backup and myQ. The old door was insulated but not laminated and was 4 panels. The new door was 5 panels , insulated and laminated, in one word, strong. It was cheaper than the original door if I wanted to but it. My son-in-law bought a Liftmaster belt drive and I was impressed on how quiet it was, so I had my service man install one. Here it is 5 years later and everything is working ok. The new door has 3 struts, one on top, one in the middle and one at the top of the bottom panel. All struts mount to one of the hinge screws. PS: Since this Liftmaster was installed, I have noticed that they last longer. I have a condo with a 1/3 hp Liftmaster chain drive that is 28+ years old. My grandson has 2……1/2 hp chain drive Liftmasters that are 23+ years old. I’ve had Genie openers since 1975, most have lasted 8 years on the average. The last screw drive lasted 8 years.
Just a heads up to anyone watching this video, you should have a minimum of 2 of these on your door, one at the very top and one in the middle, however, it isn't uncommon in high wind areas to have one per panel.
Thank you for the info. I was completely ignorant before this. Since looking into this, I noticed that my sister's house has 4 on one door and I think my mom has 3. I never knew.
Getting ready to do the same thing to my garage door. After looking at many videos it looks like you're j-arm and track are not in line with the center of your garage door it could be an optical illusion
You can’t add struts to a door without changing the springs. One strut with hardware can add 10-12lbs to a door depending on the length of the door. If you add three to four struts you just added 30-40lbs. Now the door isn’t balanced and the operator will have to work harder and will wear out sooner. You should weigh the door with a scale and it shouldn’t weight over 10lbs on the ground. If it does you need new springs.
Curious as to why you’d need new springs rather than just having it rebalanced? I can’t see why new springs would be necessary, especially if you have a heavy duty opener. Even lighter duty openers have a reasonable amount of span on door weights that 30-40lbs should be negligible with adjusting the springs for balance and reprogramming the opener…
I'm Andrew, the owner of Five Star Doors and the supplier of your strut kit. I Want to thank you for the great video.
2 points
1st A 16ft strut kit measures out to 191.25 inches. The 3/4in shortness prevents the upper door tracks from rubbing against the strut. Not all doors, But many.
Second, it's best to install the strut kit as close to the damaged area as possible. Only insulated doors need to be installed over the hinge. Always try to install just above or below a hinge.
Again, great video.
Thanks for the info!! I'm pinning your reply. Since installing this I've noticed that most garage doors have at least a couple of these installed. It has made a night and day difference.
Andrew, I’m really happy that you replied to this video. I wanted to offer a little constructive feedback on your product which by the way I think is pretty great. The instructions are not great and I mean that with all due respect. There are no indications in your drawings of what is supposed to be the top of the garage door or the bottom of the garage door and therefore, your drawings do not indicate whether you’re ready recommendation is putting, the brace in above or below a hinge. I actually had to watch this video in order to figure out how to install this item. I hope this doesn’t seem like a minor thing because for DIYers instructions are very, very important
Hi Andrew, do you have updated instructions of how to install if one has a 9' wide garage door with insulation? Thanks
I really appreciate that you created this video! I wanted to point out that the tip that you provided about clamping the connector to each of the 8 foot struts before starting to connect them together was most valuable. I also liked how you pre-fit the pieces and made a measurement for the complete length. That was well thought out. Great piece of work!
Thanks for this video, this cleared up some of the confusion I had with the instructions, but after watching your video, I was able to install it in a little over half an hour. I had help from my brother who was visiting from Phoenix and it went pretty smoothly. I had another installed about 8 years ago by a professional near the top but I never realized the importance of having two on until my door started dipping near the bottom. The hardest part about the kit was separating the pieces right out of the box. Using a couple of standard screw drivers did the trick. Thanks again!
You are very welcome. I didn't know about the importance of these either.
I just installed a Five Star. Took about 45 minutes. Worked like a charm. I installed the center piece first, then added the sides. Now for some nylon rollers.....
Great video...mine is buckled at the top, so will be a little more involved. Other videos are just pushing a product instead of showing the process like you did.
Nice job. Great product
Thanks for sharing I'm putting on a 16 foot one today ill have one on every panel should have d9ne it when I installed the other 3 years ago
nicely done - very useful
Thank you for sharing this video. I'm going to attempt to fix my door the same way
Awesome video. Just did mine with your help. Apparently my door is 15’ so I had to cut off about 2” on both pieces using an angle grinder because out of the box it was too long. Easy installation. definitely helps if you have help just so they can hold it in place and make sure it’s level. A couple of my panels are cracked and it used to bow but it no longer does that
I had a similar problem. My garage door was 16’ x 8’, bowing in the middle and also reversing. If I pushed it in with my cane as it was going up it worked, otherwise it would reverse. The garage door was 16 years old with a newer screw drive Genie opener. My local Menards (I’m in the Chicago area) had these struts in stock, in 16’ ($16) and 9’ ($12) lengths. I first installed the 16’ length, but I still had problems, so I purchased the 9’ length, this did the trick. However , the garage door with the extra weight was giving the garage door opener problems. I rebalanced the door and then it worked fine, so I thought. January 1, 2019, the garage door spring broke and so dis the Genie door opener. I called my local garage door serviceman and I got a new garage door and a belt drive 3/4 hp Liftmaster belt drive opener with battery backup and myQ. The old door was insulated but not laminated and was 4 panels. The new door was 5 panels , insulated and laminated, in one word, strong. It was cheaper than the original door if I wanted to but it. My son-in-law bought a Liftmaster belt drive and I was impressed on how quiet it was, so I had my service man install one. Here it is 5 years later and everything is working ok. The new door has 3 struts, one on top, one in the middle and one at the top of the bottom panel. All struts mount to one of the hinge screws.
PS: Since this Liftmaster was installed, I have noticed that they last longer. I have a condo with a 1/3 hp Liftmaster chain drive that is 28+ years old. My grandson has 2……1/2 hp chain drive Liftmasters that are 23+ years old. I’ve had Genie openers since 1975, most have lasted 8 years on the average. The last screw drive lasted 8 years.
Very good
😉 I might be trying to align the opener a little better when I have a bit of time.
Just a heads up to anyone watching this video, you should have a minimum of 2 of these on your door, one at the very top and one in the middle, however, it isn't uncommon in high wind areas to have one per panel.
Thank you for the info. I was completely ignorant before this. Since looking into this, I noticed that my sister's house has 4 on one door and I think my mom has 3. I never knew.
Think the middle looks lower after it's closed because that's where the push/pull is. Might need to lube side tracks & rollers. 😊
I would had been able to fix it myself but I couldn't find anywhere to sell these struts.
Amazon has them.
Getting ready to do the same thing to my garage door. After looking at many videos it looks like you're j-arm and track are not in line with the center of your garage door it could be an optical illusion
No you are exactly right. It is not lined up. It's been that way since I moved in.
Thanks for this video. My kit didn’t come w instructions
Heck yeah!! You are welcome 😁
Is there a link to the ones you used?
Check out the pinned comment from Five Star Doors. Great info!
Can I ask what this strut kit does for the door?
It keeps it from bowing. At the end of the video, I show the before and after. Mine bowed so bad that it would reverse direction.
You actually want the brace to be an inch shorter than the door. So instead of making the brace 16 ft long make it 15 feet and 11 in Long
Where can I buy .im in San jacinto california
amazon
You can’t add struts to a door without changing the springs. One strut with hardware can add 10-12lbs to a door depending on the length of the door. If you add three to four struts you just added 30-40lbs. Now the door isn’t balanced and the operator will have to work harder and will wear out sooner. You should weigh the door with a scale and it shouldn’t weight over 10lbs on the ground. If it does you need new springs.
Curious as to why you’d need new springs rather than just having it rebalanced? I can’t see why new springs would be necessary, especially if you have a heavy duty opener. Even lighter duty openers have a reasonable amount of span on door weights that 30-40lbs should be negligible with adjusting the springs for balance and reprogramming the opener…
i put 2 of these kits on my door 6 years ago. i just adjusted the springs. have not had an issue since.