I have a chain drive garage door opener. The sprocket on top of the garage door opener broke off so the chain isn't connected to the garage door opener anymore.
I want to re-use the garage door rail I have because it's one piece that's 6 or 7 ft long (I didn't measure but it's about that long). Looking at the chain drive openers I can buy at Home Depot, it looks like the rail is in pieces since the box is like 2 ft long.
Assuming the length, load strength, etc. is the same for both the one piece rail and the multiple piece rail, is it a good idea for me to reuse the old rail?
I'm asking because I want to install less things if I can help it. Also, the idea of a single solid rail sounds more structurally sound than a 5 piece rail that's screwed together.
Best Answer
I have reused the rail, to save time when swapping garage door units. It was a similarly branded unit, and the rails appeared to be identical.
That was 32 years ago. The original rail continues to work fine. Every 5 years or so, I clean it up and re-grease it.
If the new and old rail are different, or the old one has allot of wear, I would install the new one. Otherwise, you may save some time and effort by reusing the existing on.