JHZR2
Staff member
I have some very old, somewhat oversized, wood garage doors on one of the buildings I own.
The other day I pulled one open and a pulley came crashing down. Good thing a car wasn’t directly below!
The pulley is old. The bearing is worn.
There is some irregular wear. Notice how in the second to last image, the bearings only appear about halfway across the gap, while in the last picture, they fill much more of the gap.
The pulley just sat up against a piece of sheet metal. Nothing fancy. It must have seized a lot before shearing the bolts. The springs on the door help enough for it to have not been an issue.
The bearing must have had irregular wear from sitting under spring tension for decades. It’s also pretty darn dry, which means I’ll need to service all of them. But first things first…
How to repair the one that sheared off? I know I can probably find a new one that is the same size, but it is highly likely that it is some Chinese junk with a sealed bearing. I’d prefer to use this one and repair it. I assume the bearing would press out of the wheel, and by doing so, I can replace some/all balls. I’m guessing it’s servicable bearing?????? It would be a good excuse to buy a hydraulic press
The pulley didn’t seem to be offset from the sheet metal by a washer. Either the inner race (?) that the bolt goes through used to be thicker on one side and got worn down from years of seizing and moving, or a washer fell on the ground that I can’t find, or it was just never there. It seems to me that there should be a washer, holding the pulley off of the sheet metal, correct?
Now for all of them, what’s the best way to clean? For rollers I’ve used Ed’s red after wiping them down. These are too big/dirty. I’m thinking gasoline or diesel? Then grease back up with some bearing grease that I have laying around…
The other day I pulled one open and a pulley came crashing down. Good thing a car wasn’t directly below!
The pulley is old. The bearing is worn.
There is some irregular wear. Notice how in the second to last image, the bearings only appear about halfway across the gap, while in the last picture, they fill much more of the gap.
The pulley just sat up against a piece of sheet metal. Nothing fancy. It must have seized a lot before shearing the bolts. The springs on the door help enough for it to have not been an issue.
The bearing must have had irregular wear from sitting under spring tension for decades. It’s also pretty darn dry, which means I’ll need to service all of them. But first things first…
How to repair the one that sheared off? I know I can probably find a new one that is the same size, but it is highly likely that it is some Chinese junk with a sealed bearing. I’d prefer to use this one and repair it. I assume the bearing would press out of the wheel, and by doing so, I can replace some/all balls. I’m guessing it’s servicable bearing?????? It would be a good excuse to buy a hydraulic press

The pulley didn’t seem to be offset from the sheet metal by a washer. Either the inner race (?) that the bolt goes through used to be thicker on one side and got worn down from years of seizing and moving, or a washer fell on the ground that I can’t find, or it was just never there. It seems to me that there should be a washer, holding the pulley off of the sheet metal, correct?
Now for all of them, what’s the best way to clean? For rollers I’ve used Ed’s red after wiping them down. These are too big/dirty. I’m thinking gasoline or diesel? Then grease back up with some bearing grease that I have laying around…