I have a 1950’s sliding patio door that I was trying to remove to clean the rollers. In the process of trying to remove it I altered the height of the wheels and can’t get them back level. It’s unlike any of the doors that there are instructions for on the internet for leveling the wheels.
On the inside of the door is the head of a large screw that passes through the door wheels , on the outside is a octagonal shaped plate that has a threaded hole. I’ve tried aligning the octagonal plates so that the holes were in the same position relative to each other thinking that this would level the wheels – but it doesn’t. Does anyone know how the wheels are adjusted? Also, I was unable to remove the door because it can’t be lifted high enough to take it out of the track so if anyone has any information about removing that would also be appreciated.
Thanks
Replies
I would assume that, if positioning the octagon's similarly doesn't result in a level door, it's because one of the wheels is broken.
Look in the top track for a block that prevents the door from being lifted up when near the latch. Or there may be a full-width block that needs to be removed from the upper track to lift out the door.
The wheel doesn't appear to be broken (it rolls). It was level before monkeying with the wheels while trying to remove the door. There's no block in the track preventing the door from being lifted out and the track is one solid piece - so there's nothing to remove and tilt the door out.
Is one of the wheels off the bottom track?
Does the bottom track come out?
Has the header over the door sagged over the years, preventing the door from being lifted high enough?
Matt
The adjustment screws would be on the inside or the edge of the door. Lowering the wheels with the door in the center of the opening and then priying the door up and out is the way it's done.
Are those screws in the inside of the door-or an unscrewable cap that uncovers an adjustment screw?
There are no screws on the inside or the edge of the door. The only screws are the two large screws that you see in the picture. I turned those thinking that they would raise or lower the wheels allowing me to remove the door. There are two large screws on the inside of the door (shown in the photo) - the screw goes through an octagon shaped plate, through a metal wheel and into a threaded hole in the octagon shaped plate on the exterior of the door. I rotated the screws thinking that the wheels would go up and that I could remove the door only to have the whole thing come apart leaving me with a door I couldn't remove and won't close tight because the wheels are uneven. At this point I'll be happy to get the wheels even so I can shut the door tight and drop the jamb bar into place. This is my fathers house - I'm just visitng and was trying to help him out with a stiff sliding door.
1. Are you sure the octagons were identically placed before you mucked with it? It may have been adjusted to compensate for a slightly out of square opening.
2. Did you check closely with regard to octagon orientation? Note that the hole is not symmetrical with the octagon shape.
The octagons are the adjusters.
The octagons are the adjusters, and the bolt is the axle for the wheels.
You shouldn't ever take the bolt out, just loosen it enough to get a wrench on the octagon to adjust the height.
Are you certain you have both wheels back on the bolt?
If one of them is loose, it will prevent you from removing the door. Because, the wheel is in the track, and high enough into the door to keep it from coming out.
You need to be sure that both wheels are back on the bolts, and then rotate the octagon so the bolt/axle is at it's highest position, (which retracts the wheels), to remove the door.
constructed differently in the 50's?
There are several variations on the theme, but for all you must raise the wheels (lower the door) to be able to have enough room to possibly be able to pry up the bottom and pull it and the wheels out off the track.
On a few, there was a stop at the top that you could remove so the door could tip out at the top.
Does that screw/octagon thing have the screw off centered in the plate? In other words, turning the plate moves the wheels up/down (moves the center of the screw-wheel up/down). Instead of removing the screw, you just loosen it enough to turn that plate in it's octagon seat?
Can you instert a thin pry bar from the outside to jack it up a tad to take the wt. off the wheels ?
Matt
Once you get this thing right, take some spray Lithium with the straw and spray up under (as best you can) and lube those wheels, wipe the track and even spray some up in the top track. If all is well, it should roll like new.
Did you ever figure this out? Im in the same boat at the moment
Vince,
Post some photos of the parts like the pictures in the original post. This might help identify the door and we’ll be able to try to help.