How to Replace Garage Door Rollers

Depending on the usage and the quality of the rollers, you should replace your garage door rollers every 6 - 10 years.

However, if your garage door came with standard metal rollers or cheap plastic rollers, we highly recommend you change those out for high-quality machine-pressed nylon bearing rollers.

Replacing garage door rollers is quick and easy to do. You could spend hundreds of dollars and hire a professional to replace your garage door rollers, or with a simple flat hammer and ten minutes, you can replace your garage door rollers yourself.

How to Replace the Bottom and Mid-Level Rollers

To replace your old or damaged rollers, you will not have to remove any hinges or bolts. You will simply pop the rollers off the track, switch them out for new rollers and pop them back in. We'll show you specifically how to do this safely and easily without damaging the mechanisms of your garage door.

We'll start by replacing the bottom and mid-level rollers, since replacing those rollers requires a slightly different method than the one used to replace the top rollers - which we will cover after.

Step 1

Start with your garage door halfway open. Inset the claw of your hammer into the vertical track just beneath the roller. By simply wiggling the hammer back and forth, the roller should pop out. You shouldn't need to use too much force. By stretching the sides of the track and giving the hammer a tap, the roller will pop free from the track easily.

Step 2

Once the garage door roller has been freed from the track, simply pull the door away from the track - a half-inch should be enough - slide out the damaged roller and slide your new roller into the roller bracket. You shouldn't need any tool to do this.

Step 3

Lift the garage door until your new roller is parallel to where the vertical track begins to curve. Take the claw of your hammer and pry back the side of the track just a little. You won't need to pull back much - only a slight space will be enough for you to slide the new roller back into the track.

Step 4

Once you've created a slight space in the track for the new roller - by prying the rim of the track with the claw of your hammer - simply align the roller with space and tap it back into place. One or two taps from the hammer should be enough to do the trick.

Step 5

Repeat the 4 steps mentioned above for all the rollers you want to replace. Once you've finished replacing the rollers and have tapped them into place in the vertical track, close the garage door. Then simply give the track a tap, where you pried it open earlier, so that it regains its original form. Lift the garage door and verify that the new rollers pass smoothly along the track.

How to Replace the Top Garage Door Rollers

To replace the top roller, you do not need to loosen or bend a space in the vertical track as you did with the other rollers. You will still use the claw of your hammer to pop the roller out of the track. But once you've slid the replacement roller into the roller bracket, simply take the track in your hand and give it a turn.

You won't need to turn the track much - just a slight shift in the angle - and the new roller will slide right in.

For more information on how to replace garage door rollers, check out this short video tutorial.

Where to Get Rollers and Other Garage Door Parts

Garage door rollers come in metal, plastic, or nylon. Nylon rollers are by far the best for garage doors. For more about quality garage door rollers, check out this short video. Or check out the full product description and ordering information.