I have a standard vinyl Andersen sliding patio door in my house ( I believe its called Perma Shield) about 20-25 years old. I have removed the rollers from the bottom and cleaned them, but the door still seems it takes a lot of effort to open and close. While I had the rollers out I noticed the wheels seemed to be turning freely, but I guess with the weight on them its a different story. The track is clean and I sprayed silicone where the door rubs against the upper track. But still it does not open easily. I have another identical sliding door in my den and that seems to open fine. Should I assume the bearings in the rollers are bad and just buy new rollers? Or is there something else I should look for?
Patio gliding door roller replacement
Jun 15, 2005
4 Replies
one or more of the rollers may indeed be worn out, however there is typically an adjustment for each rollers height & alignment as well, so I would check that first
I have installed so many brands that I cannot remember off the top of my head whether the Andersen's have the adjustment screws or not, and I don't have an Andersen close by to check.
Yes I have adjusted them to no avail. They have hole plugs in the doors that when you remove them , you stick an allen key to adjust the height. But no matter how I adfjusted them, they don't get better.
I, too, tried to rejuvenate the old rollers in my patio doors by cleaning and oiling them. Did not work well, although was an improvement. After I put in new rollers, they slide like greased lightning. Costs about $ 15 per door. The rollers usually just slip in the frame.
Thanks Walter. Andersen has a pretty good website. It has parts for doors dating back to more than 30 years ago. A local Andersen dealer has the rollers for $10 each. And they too just slip into the frame . I pick them up later today so I'll keep you posted.
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