My X can finally spread its wings!

[Xminus6]

Spent the day installing my new Liftmaster 8500 Jackshaft garage door opener. Some people call it a sidewinder because it mounts right next to the torsion bar, allowing you to remove the center track and motor from a traditional opener. The opener in our garage was really old and too low to let the X's FWD open fully. On the passenger side it could only open a fraction of the way. A real pain in the back when trying to lift my sleeping 7-year-old daughter from that side of the car.

If any of you have a low garage door opener and can't open the FWD on the X, I highly recommend getting one of these. Also, it just opens up the whole space and feels much better.

 

[balefire]

Had no idea this was possible. Thanks for heads up.

 

[3s-a-charm]

Spent the day installing my new Liftmaster 8500 Jackshaft garage door opener. Some people call it a sidewinder because it mounts right next to the torsion bar, allowing you to remove the center track and motor from a traditional opener. The opener in our garage was really old and too low to let the X's FWD open fully. On the passenger side it could only open a fraction of the way. A real pain in the back when trying to lift my sleeping 7-year-old daughter from that side of the car.

If any of you have a low garage door opener and can't open the FWD on the X, I highly recommend getting one of these. Also, it just opens up the whole space and feels much better.

Did you need to replace the hardware and rails or simply mount the lift to the torsion bar? I got a quote recently and they said I had to replace a bunch of hardware but I didn't think you had to.

 

[PedanticOne]

It all depends on what you have already. There are requirements called out in the instruction manual. For example, you need to have a 1" torsion bar. It needs to be some distance from the wall and from the ceiling, and it needs at least 8" of space on the side to mount the unit itself. There are also some notes about the slack in the line and ways to mitigate it. I'm about the pull the trigger on one of these myself, so I've been doing a lot of reading lately.

My advice would be to go get the instruction manual and check it out.

 

[Xminus6]

Did you need to replace the hardware and rails or simply mount the lift to the torsion bar? I got a quote recently and they said I had to replace a bunch of hardware but I didn't think you had to.

Yes, PedanticOne is correct, it really depends on your current garage door setup and how it was installed.

I was lucky because my door was already in great shape and the conditions for use of the Liftmaster were all already in place. The door was well-balanced in manual mode and the torsion bar was the right size and placement. I had an electrician install a dual outlet up high near my garage doors specifically for these openers. I haven't installed the one in the single bay yet.

The biggest hassle really was the wire staples that have to be run all around your garage. Since the motor changes location, you won't really be able to reuse the old wires to the controller and the obstruction sensor.

So, for me, I didn't have to replace any hardware related to the door itself. I mounted the door opener and took down my old one, including the metal hangers for the old motor. All told, with a couple trips to my local hardware store for a stepped drill bit and more wire staples, it took me about 6 - 7 hours. The next one I expect to be able to finish in 3 - 4 hours.

 

[mal_tsla]

We did this, too. One of the doors was ready for install. The other needed conversion from springs to torsion bar. That cost a couple hundred bucks from a garage professional. We also had the tracks changed to "high lift" tracks -- basically they hug the ceiling and rest maybe 3" from the ceiling when open. Previously the tracks were much lower, since the door had to rest far enough from the ceiling to align with the old "Track style" garage door opener. That conversion was maybe a couple of hundred bucks per door, but now we have almost nine feet of clearance in the entire garage space, which is great for the X and also for playing around with the little ones and their kid-size basketball set on cold days

I watched them do this and it did not look like a fun DIY for me, but I'm not that handy. Simply installing the jack lift opener on an already-torsion door without any changes to the tracks seems DIY-friendly enough, though.

 

[Rockster]

I just had this done (even though I have an S, not an X) and I love it. Removing the clutter from the garage ceiling was nice and the 8500 is much more quiet than my previous opener (which wasn't very old).

 

[3s-a-charm]

Yes, PedanticOne is correct, it really depends on your current garage door setup and how it was installed.

I was lucky because my door was already in great shape and the conditions for use of the Liftmaster were all already in place. The door was well-balanced in manual mode and the torsion bar was the right size and placement. I had an electrician install a dual outlet up high near my garage doors specifically for these openers. I haven't installed the one in the single bay yet.

The biggest hassle really was the wire staples that have to be run all around your garage. Since the motor changes location, you won't really be able to reuse the old wires to the controller and the obstruction sensor.

So, for me, I didn't have to replace any hardware related to the door itself. I mounted the door opener and took down my old one, including the metal hangers for the old motor. All told, with a couple trips to my local hardware store for a stepped drill bit and more wire staples, it took me about 6 - 7 hours. The next one I expect to be able to finish in 3 - 4 hours.

Great! When are you coming over?

 

[outie]

I am very interested in getting this done. We got new garage doors/openers during the remodel and we did not have a Model X then. Now of course I would say I wish I got the 8500. I can open my doors pretty much fully if I close the garage door. Waiting for a quote from my garage guy.

 

[MXWing]

I am very interested in getting this done. We got new garage doors/openers during the remodel and we did not have a Model X then. Now of course I would say I wish I got the 8500. I can open my doors pretty much fully if I close the garage door. Waiting for a quote from my garage guy.

I'm excited by this idea. Going to see what can be done in my situation as well.

 

[MXWing]

We did this, too. One of the doors was ready for install. The other needed conversion from springs to torsion bar. That cost a couple hundred bucks from a garage professional. We also had the tracks changed to "high lift" tracks -- basically they hug the ceiling and rest maybe 3" from the ceiling when open. Previously the tracks were much lower, since the door had to rest far enough from the ceiling to align with the old "Track style" garage door opener. That conversion was maybe a couple of hundred bucks per door, but now we have almost nine feet of clearance in the entire garage space, which is great for the X and also for playing around with the little ones and their kid-size basketball set on cold days

I watched them do this and it did not look like a fun DIY for me, but I'm not that handy. Simply installing the jack lift opener on an already-torsion door without any changes to the tracks seems DIY-friendly enough, though.

When it comes to garage doors and DIY

Let's say I'd rather be hit by a .22LR round than a garage door spring. Possibly a .380. I like my head attached to my shoulders.

 

[Xminus6]

When it comes to garage doors and DIY

Let's say I'd rather be hit by a .22LR round than a garage door spring. Possibly a .380. I like my head attached to my shoulders.

True enough. I'd like to clarify thought that I didn't mess with torsion spring at all other than attaching to the bar. I didn't have to adjust the tension.

 

[MXWing]

True enough. I'd like to clarify thought that I didn't mess with torsion spring at all other than attaching to the bar. I didn't have to adjust the tension.

All compliments and kudos here. I think you are going to start a trend. I never knew such a thing existed but will make a garage way more open and spacious.

 

[andrewket]

We swapped out both our openers for the liftmaster 8500 and used a high-rise extension kit to get the tracks as high as possible. The doors on our X can open fully. It wasn't necessary to do it on our second garage door, but I didn't like the look of the doors being different.

 

[PedanticOne]

In my case I'm not even sure I need to do it since I'm not even sure if my car will fit right in the garage anyway, but I really like the idea of eliminating that track and light hanging down. I always hit the damn cord with my head, too.

 

[outie]

My guy wanted 750$ total for it and $400 if I get the opener myself. That's more than I'd like to spend. I might have to go the DIY route.

 

[Xminus6]

My guy wanted 750$ total for it and $400 if I get the opener myself. That's more than I'd like to spend. I might have to go the DIY route.

Go out and check your door against the installation requirements in the Installation Manual here:
https://www.liftmaster.com/catalogresourcesv3/en-us/shared/files/tucmanuals/114a4565.pdf

If it meets those requirements and is balance well when in manual mode, it's really not that hard to do. It just takes time. There's one part of the instructions that are unclear but other than that it's pretty straightforward.

 

[outie]

Thanks. Yes I think it's really not that hard. My existing opened and whole system is still quite new (2 years) and is well balanced.

The only thing is I think I'll need the rail extension as I don't see how my existing rail can go higher. Any pointer if that's something you can get from homedepot? Thanks.

 

[Xminus6]

You don't need to raise the rails for it to work. A lot of people like to do it because it gives them more space but the opener doesn't need high lift doors to work. Besides, your door rails only look to be less than a foot below the ceiling. not really much benefit to raising them.

 

[outie]

Yea not much space but it's a difference of opening it fully vs half. If my garage door is closed I can open fully, so if I get rid of the belt / motor I should be able to lift the door where the belt is and thus have enough clearance for spreading the wings.