super low headroom garage door

hoping this is helpful to someone looking for a solution for a seemingly impossible transition from 1 piece garage door to panel door.

[@rijosigns]

very well done bud 25 years here in resi and commercial. this id the best viedo i have seen in a real low headroom situation well done ...clap clap clap.cheers well done.

[@jakecrayne5120]

thank you very much

[@bigpermsgarage6290]

Double low head room, rear mount torsion set up. I installed many of those over the years. I love your opener solution.

[@user-ww8ko9ym6q]

Love Grandfathers that just think it through and make it happen. Some rubbed off onto my dad and I think I got some of that wisdom as well. That's why I'm here. Totally new area for me, but, gotta get it done.

[@datsfamily4886]

I want to say thank you so much for this video! Afyer my husband and I worked at ot for like 10 hours lmao I came across this video! You saved us from having to return out door opener and possibly not having a door opener at all! Your concept worked perfectly and i cant thank you enough for thinking ouside the box! Awesome job! Awesome video! 5 stars

[@MrJammor]

Dude you are a genius. I have an 89" ceiling and I thought I was not going to be able to do it. Found the super senaky brackets online. Come to Atlanta and put mine in! lol

[@a46222]

I can't believe I found exactly what I needed to see. Really nice job man.

[@cc12h22w]

This is awesome job Your grandpa is a good solving problems guy , he extended the steel lifting cables and extended the linkage with the door with a square bar , very professional done . I am mechanical Engineer and that is one of the job I consider " one of the kind job" to fix your garage door problem. Congratulations it was AWESOME

[@JacquelynWeitz]

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for thinking of this and sharing it. My contractor got to the end of my garage project and broke the news to me that I would not be able to have an automatic garage door opener because there was not enough clearance .... Then my mom found your video. My contractor followed your instructions and it saved me from having to get out of my car with my two-year-old daughter inside EVERY time I go into or out of the garage... For our safety and convenience, thank you.

[@jakecrayne5120]

so awesome to hear! great work. glad to help

[@martyk4656]

Thank your grandpa for me. Just did this for my Vietnam Vet uncle. He was told by local contractors he could not have his opener installed due to low clearance. He lives on an island in Lake Michigan. I visited him and installed it in a day, like yours. 👍👍👍

[@SandlGetIt]

I like the way you did that. I have a 7ft garage door with a 10ft ceiling and a lifted truck that wont fit. I'm in the process of raising the header to probably 9ft. Then use a jackshaft opener and 24 or 30 radius curves to have the door ride along the ceiling. Everyone tells me its not possible and its gonna be a waste of money to Mcguyver it together. I think buying the parts you need instead of a kit thats going to need to be modified will be cheaper.

[@jstriker623]

That's the most impressive setup I've ever seen.

[@pales2425]

I just received another "no" from a garage door professional because of low headroom, so this video gives me hope that I can electrify mine this summer myself. You really did a beautiful job!

[@jakecrayne5120]

you can do it! nothing that cant be handled with some common sense and determination

[@hellsurfer8499]

This video was inspirational! I had to work a little further out of your box, but it worked amazingly. Thank you Grandfather for the hinge idea. It worked perfectly!!

[@petrol11]

Excellent video, thank you for this! Car-Wal in Ontario refuse to talk about this method, they just want to sell me an overpriced build-down system where i lose 9 inches of door clearance. Thankfully managed to find someone eventually that will install this way. Thanks to your grandfather too!

[@jakecrayne5120]

awesome, glad this helped! my local garage door supplier was extremely unhelpful as well

[@FromSteelToWood]

Ingenious! Clever! Brilliant! I am glad I came accross your video. I have same situation with my garage door, where the top pannel is mounted on a hinged wheel holder. Then the clearance is within 1/4'' like you. I was hoping to use a door opener, but could not figure how. Now I know how! Thanks for sharing!

[@andrewdenine1685]

Rite on bud this fixes my problem. Tell your grandfather thank you very much you should.patton this. I was installing a 16' wide door this was a garrage package and the company really didn't have a clue what they were doing. This is a great fix for this common problem

[@tylerd5800]

Thanks for making this video. I just installed a door opener today and ran into this issue and my dad found your video so we did what you did and works great. Well done.

[@jakecrayne5120]

im just glad it helped you out!

[@outtadebox1877]

Your grandfather sounds like a smart guy. I may have to use this idea. Thanks very much.

[@charleslewis205]

Good evening. I just wanted to comment and say this also is exactly what I needed. I really don't know whether I can accomplish this big project but it is great to see that it can be done. My other option is for Carriage swing doors that are on there now but I might give this a try. So once again thank you for this video. It is the most creative and detail how to video that I have ever seen. Have a blessed night!!!

[@ericgarr3331]

I'm doing this this weekend! Shame on the garage door industry for not finding a solution to garage doors like this.

[@L35inColorado]

Great job, buddy! That solution with the rail is ingenious.

[@heroknaderi]

There’s always a way to make a garage door automatically open I love that idea as long as it works then we can enjoy using it 😁👍 very nicely done ✅

[@dolphincliffs8864]

I love the whole install! Seen lots of this because I have been doing doors for 22 years now. Excellent!

[@NBSTL68]

Wish I'd seen this sooner! Just got our "low headroom" garage door and rails delivered and the rails have 2 tracks on them?? Pretty sure the definition of "low headroom" for us was confused as an installer said "low headroom" kit will actually make the garage door final height when open LOWER and not higher up close to the ceiling like we wanted...Oh, and he thought it will cost us another $1k+ for new rails + $1k for the install?! Still working through what options we have w the existing double rail kit. We are not even doing an opener and he said the door will be heavier to open than a standard kit. What a mess. Thanks for the video though as it gives me a place to start now I know it is possible.

[@jakecrayne5120]

Yeah i made the same mistake, and got the 2 rail kit for low headroom. i ended up using them, but i just utilize the rounded track (lower one) and use the super sneaky brackets.

[@cyrilmitchell4943]

Your video helped me out greatly in setting up my garage opener. I as well have low headroom in my garage. Your grandfather is a genius! Your explanations great!

[@chamberlainliftmasterfan-2521]

That’s the longest door arm I’ve ever seen lol

[@Drone953]

Hi Jake, thanks for sharing I ran into the same issue today l, saw your video and I was relieved 😌 Props from Toronto Canada 🇨🇦

[@jagzigian]

Same exact situation I’m dealing with right now. Thank you for showing me the light.

[@Msleelee9487]

You give me hope I can get a door after 38 yrs in my house I don’t feel safe and just want my cars and lawn equipment secured I think my height might be 8 or 7 ft tall and I have 2 cars in the garage now I have to find someone to do it 😳

[@CH-oz3li]

Just did this on a 15 wide x 10 foot tall door. It works great! Tanks for the the idea

[@DW_Kiwi]

Well, You have a great Grandad. I'm a grandad as well and I need to solve my problem (no Headroom) too. Thanks for the info.

[@brettvought5760]

Thats a bad ass setup. Nice work. Definitely gave me some solutions to my problems. No where near as tight but I'm still hitting rafters with the new garage door since it's a single track.

[@ikenosis8160]

Very well done. Great work. I am about to do an install that isn't much different and this video helped me a lot. Thanks for posting.

[@stevenberkel8337]

Not only is it rear torsion, it also looks like a reversed torsion as well. Meaning, winding a righthand wound spring backwards. Only makes sense with the reversed torsion bottom brackets & the drums set on the outside of torsion tube. I've done quite the engineering to get doors in like this. Instead of a lengthy J arm extension, I've went up between the rafters with the rail, and only the motor sits flush at ceiling height Great build my friend

[@dolphincliffs8864]

Inside torsion for lh is what we do

[@daviddorr4683]

Your grandpa is a very intelligent man

[@justinmiedema8895]

Exactly what I needed to see after digging into 2 garage doors very similar. Thank you

[@l337pwnage]

Extremely slick. Now to go full spectrum on it. ;) Those exposed cables which are parallel to the ground could probably be run inside a conduit, maybe plastic, so when the spring breaks(they all break eventually) or even cable(although it takes both to break on torsion system) breaks, the cable would be somewhat contained from flying everywhere. BTW, I'm diggin' the triangulation on the spring anchor. ;)

[@70soundwave]

That's a pretty sweet set up. I like how you placed the spring all the way at the back

[@stevelyles6981]

Thanks for the video. You solved my similar dilemma with an 8-foot door. 👍👍👍

[@jakecrayne5120]

so great to hear! keep up the good work

[@scottg9598]

awesome video! so little info out there on setups with under 4" of headroom. American ingenuity at its best!

[@therealhughleys4872]

This helped very much thank you!

[@BurtBowers]

Amazing set up I never seen the drums moved way back interesting..

[@edufael]

I was thinking exactly what you did would work!! perfect now i can buy my garage door opener! thanks for sharing!

[@JonathanMencer]

Well done. Thanks for sharing 👍🏼

[@troyacummings]

Thanks. I need to do a far back set up, but I have rafters running parallel to the opener shaft. So I can use the space to put the rail up top. I have to go far back to clear a support beam and low hanging ductwork though. Thanks

[@rickdowdin9441]

Awesome job! Could you have maybe mounted a jackshaft to the rear torsion? Your grandfather was a visionary type of fella I'm guessing. Ingenious idea. I seen something like that using 2 solid steel chain motor rails working in tandem.

[@Mixdplate]

Impressive! Facing this issue in the garage of the older home I recently purchased. Unfortunately, I don't have the skills needed to make this work and I'm sure if the garage door guy that said "no can do" has the ability to do it, he would triple his price. Maybe I'll look into more of a handyman type of contractor.

[@tyclute1454]

Mind Blown! Wish i saw this a week ago..

[@amdg2023]

Its actually not a torsion bar but we get the point, fantastic solution so cherish that grandpa.

[@ericacuna3352]

Your grandfather is a genius!

[@steveatx8295]

Helped me Thanks to you and Grandpa!

[@JohnnyEla]

Rear torsion, very fun!!!

[@yasserdz5226]

Man it did help you not just helped me no you saved me seriously , thank you thank you so mush ❤️ , am from africa and i was thinking to start this business here in my country and i start geting informations aaaandddd look at youuu you gives me everything 😄❤️❤️

[@DW_Kiwi]

Don't get me wrong. The use of Super Sneakys are a great idea to solve a low headroom problem However, it can cause another problem. That is, a small obstruction (child leg) under the door will maybe cause the opener to not reverse reliably. The top section panel (with the Super Sneakys installed) now has the "downward" back pressure very much reduced from the opener. The opener "pressure" or force is now mostly horizontal, folding the hinge up to close the top section. There is a area where the opener may not sense an obstruction correctly. Because the opener needs to sense the vertical back pressure from an obstruction the safety aspect is contravened. Beware Americans. Blessings from New Zealand

[@jakecrayne5120]

you are correct! this is a risk i am willing to take and haven't had an issue in the ~4 years i have had this system installed. but i am aware that the auto reverse feature is slightly handicapped so i am a bit more vigilant in double checking before i close the garage

[@DW_Kiwi]

@@jakecrayne5120 Thanks Jake. You are a good guy with a great Grandad

[@AS-pk3su]

This is a great video. Thanks so much! You would not believe the problems I am having with garage door installers saying it can't be done. The attitude with them seems to be if they weren't taught it in garage door school, it can't be done. All I need is a person with a brain, not a robot.

[@excellinc.9951]

Ha ha ha ha ha

[@aeromedical6750]

That’s impressive. I’ve never understood why a garage would ever be designed with such low headroom. That defeats the purpose of having a garage with the ability to use a garage door opener. All that being said, this is an ingenious solution to what seemed to be an impossible problem.

[@jakecrayne5120]

Thanks. I cant remember why a jackshaft opener wouldnt have worked for me, but im sure it wouldnt have worked in this situation because i remember thinking about it and then writing it off...

[@daru250]

@@jakecrayne5120 Jackshaft opener are mounted on the shaft of the torsion spring. Since they need some lift low headroom tracks have a quick breakaway and small radius. Garage door folk say they work a bit jerky so your solution is great. Did you cut any of your vertical tracks?

[@craiglayters6065]

Sir! Wow! You just blew my mind! You're grandpa is awesome!Well done. It looks amazing! Any chance you can show me how you did the cables on the side that is mounted to the torsion bar?

[@wfd805]

Old school problem solving. I like it.

[@Franchise_Consultant_Broker]

Creative and well done, Jake!

[@DollMJ]

It does help someone - that's me - thank you

[@gregmooney4090]

That is pretty slick nice job

[@The1Pope]

So Jake, when you gonna make a kit for us no-so-savvy DIYers and make yourself a cool million or more? Very nice solution.

[@jakecrayne5120]

you might be onto something Larry!

[@joshuadopson2933]

This is exactly what I needed

[@skateboardbangerslol6183]

Thank you great job very helpful.

[@rijosigns]

and he got this door in with in 3 inch's very impressive.for a 7 foot high door.

[@mollywagner7589]

Nice job!

[@burtrussel1535]

That is tier 1 level awesome 👍

[@craigzee3652]

Well done, everyone is telling me it can’t be done

[@danieldlynch]

Wow good job man.

[@uptalk144]

Rear torsion is smart. I have a low garage too. I think mine is the same height. Under house garage, ceiling is concrete. I'm thinking of trying the rear torsion setup with a genie 6170 side mount opener. I will try to install it on the ceiling. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. Thanks for the vid.

[@jakecrayne5120]

sounds great. yeah i dont remember why i didnt do a jack shaft (side mount) opener...that should work well with rear torsion. good luck!

[@chasegeissler4964]

@@jakecrayne5120 just curious because I’ve never seen it done before, but could you mount the jack shaft horizontally along the ceiling? Or hang some wood/angle iron and brace it to install vertically?

[@jakecrayne5120]

@@chasegeissler4964 Yes, i definitely thought about doing this. i want to say i needed more clearance to be able to mount the jack shaft opener to the ceiling, but i love the idea of mounting it to the ceiling horizontally if it works in your situation. good luck!

[@Fedup10710]

There is a very good possibility that mounting it like that would cause the cables to jump of the cable drums. Unless the door can drop on its own, you may need some sort of pusher spring mounted in the top track just to give a push to get started. You have to also remember if your using outside cable hookup, the springs are wound in the opposite direction than standard hookup.

[@virtualizeeverything]

well this is going to help me so much thank you

[@Gearhart.]

That's a great idea. Thank you

[@qiangfu7271]

Thansk for sharing, super inspiring!

[@SP-mp9yi]

That’s awesome very clever 👍🏽

[@mchandler482]

I agree. Genius. Well done.

[@kylekageyama]

Very nice idea, I have 88”. Now I need some metal.

[@kylekageyama]

What’s the length of the steel bar? I imagine about 7’ is minimum?

[@jakecrayne5120]

@@kylekageyama mine is exactly 106 inches (just under 9 feet). i guess it should be about the same length as the rail that comes with your opener. probably buy 10 feet to be safe and cut to length after the opener and the door linkage are installed

[@kylekageyama]

Jake Crayne thanks Jake, I ended up buying 10’ as it was slightly more then 50% the 20’ cost locally. It came out to around $20 for 10’ 1/8”. If I had bought less then 10’ they would have charged extra for cutting and cost would have been $30+. Once I setup the opener I measured and 9’ was about the max distance I could go, so I cut it to 9’ and drilled and mounted all the metal brackets. After some tinkering everything works nicely. Thanks again!

[@MatthewSchaller]

Nice job.

[@serzykzykoff1534]

Simply AMAZING!!!

[@wharedavis1906]

Ya man"! Totally helpful

[@peggycollinslloyd8357]

Thank you Jake. a very helpful video I have an identical garage and I'm encountering same headroom problem. I was about give up when I found your video. Can you tell me which super sneaky set you used in your install.

[@jakecrayne5120]

www.supersneaky.com/product/super-sneaky-ss-low-overhead-garage-door-hinges/ they were just under $60

[@joaocoelho7331]

Very clever!

[@ultimatumparagon]

this video solved my problem thanks

[@michaelbarrett8803]

Nice Work!!

[@karlybzoulou4450]

Very clever

[@garryames1824]

Thank you.

[@phongkhotsombath8508]

Very good job

[@thor777mx]

I looking to see if I can do this at my house. I went and measured my parents 7’ door and the top of the rail measured 91”. How is your less than 87”? Also looking at yours, it has two rails on top? Is that a low head room kit also?

[@shannonduensing3251]

Great job bud 👍 👏

[@RichardSalwa]

That's slick

[@greydentity]

Great job! Question. Why did you use a double track system when the upper track isn’t being used? Did the upper track not end up working? I need to do this but want to use regular track. Thanks!

[@fernando651]

thanks grampa!

[@barrycarleton4326]

Good video and neat opening door, but my height is 77 inches so not much help to me.

[@ImmDanny]

Hey this is super helpful! I want to add a garage door and enclose my carport, but because of a beam and the roof sloping, I have about 87” as well to work with. My question is, how are the cables routed near the door in order to attach to the door since normally those pulleys are mounted directly above the door rather than put back behind the door if that makes sense. Also is that just a bracket/strut you are using to mount the track or is it a double track? Hard to tell in the video. Thank you again for this! Super helpful in figuring out how to do mine.

[@jakecrayne5120]

it is a double track but i dont even use one of the tracks. i ordered it cause i thought i would need it, but the super sneaky brackets make it usable with a standard track. and yes, it is a rear torsion setup so the torsion bar is set at the rear. at the front near the door, there is a pulley on each side which changes the direction of the cable from horizontal to vertical and then it goes down to the bottom of the door and attaches to the cable brackets

[@ImmDanny]

@@jakecrayne5120thank you for the reply! Did you have to cut the vertical track? Right now my track for a 7’ door is 89” from very bottom to top of horizontal track. I only have 88” of clearance so as it stands I already have to take an inch off the vertical, but then that leaves no room for the door which I imagine goes above the track a bit. You have built in clearance by having that double track, so I’ll just figure the width of the track as the clearance I need.

[@jakecrayne5120]

im not sure you need to cut the track. the excess upper track and upper door panel should just hit your header. if you need to cut the track though, it shouldnt be an issue to take an inch off the bottom. the main thing is making sure your door panels will fit. the super sneaky brackets help with track issues @@ImmDanny

[@tombrownrigg8794]

Thank you

[@mattcoulombe3354]

Do you remember what the height of the finished opening was? I'm trying to replace an existing door that's 6'6" tall with a 7' tall door. I just want to make sure that the weather strip is still going to hit the top style and not load across the raised panels

[@jakecrayne5120]

you should be fine. if anything, some of the door will hide behind your framing but it will still work fine.

[@byronewhite]

Genius 😊

[@6speedguy845]

Clever idea

[@RC-jt2rv]

How did you install the torsion bar in the back. Is there special bracket for that if so were can I get them at

[@michaelcarrigan2513]

Well done!

[@dorothygallagher821]

What type of track did you use? Regular or low clearance, or straight? No one up here wants to do this!

[@jakecrayne5120]

i used the double track low clearance, but it wasnt necessary. you can use a normal track as long as you use the super sneaky brackets

[@dylanmiles5005]

Thanks