Model X Garage Fit

[Ed Hart]

A number of Model X owners have expressed problems in using the Falcon Wing doors inside their garages. Let me pass on my own situation, hoping it might apply to others.
1. Our garage doors of the traditional five-panel rollup design. When these needed to be replace, we chose three-panel doors, simply because of their appearance. Turns out that these doors require a larger radius on the wheel channels or tracks, meaning the clearance from the floor to the tracks is about 6-8" greater. That is huge when worrying about whether the Falcon Wing door can safely open in your garage.
2. I replaced my conventional garage door opener with a Liftmaster 8500 wall-mounted opener. As the photos show, it clears up the overhead space very nicely.
Obviously, not everyone has my situation, but if you do.....

 

[Xminus6]

I have a standard height door but I back my X into the garage since my charger is against the far wall. The other thing you can do, if you don’t need a door replacement, is have them come out and install high-lift rails. Most garage doors have space above them anyway, so they just install those larger radius rails and horizontal rails closer to the ceiling. You can have your regular 5 panel door lifted higher in your garage as well.

I also installed an 8500 Liftmaster though. If you can love a garage door opener, I love that one. I just have to clean out my single bay side of the garage so I can install the second on over there.

 

[GRfire]

Do you know if the Liftmaster can be installed on either side of the door?

 

[Blaketq]

Do you know if the Liftmaster can be installed on either side of the door?

Yes. I have one on the left side of one door and the other on the right side of the other door.

 

[brkaus]

They have a new model of the 8500 out now. Integrated internet control. Good deals available on the older model.

 

[GRfire]

Yes. I have one on the left side of one door and the other on the right side of the other door.

Perfect, thanks!!

 

[Ed Hart]

Do you know if the Liftmaster can be installed on either side of the door?

Yes it can. You can download the owners manual on line and see if it will work for you.

 

[Fellsteruk]

Nice problem to have sadly my garage is t long enough to even get an MX in and close door but then again garages in the UK are tiny

 

[Courtlandre]

I back into my garage about 2 feet from the back of the garage. The doors when open are behind the garage door, so no problems. Sometimes, one of the doors doesn't open all the way because it thinks its too close to the wall (its not). Yes I have them set to always fully open (they don't).

 

[Yinn]

Do you know if the Liftmaster can be installed on either side of the door?

It can also be installed upside down if you have a reverse drum configuatation. Note this opener only works with torsion type springs. It won’t work with older stretch springs.

For anyone who doesn’t want the integrated features - or already has other automation links, a 3900 instead of an 8500 may be better. The 3900 is no frills, doesn’t use MyQ and is directly comparable with homelink and other garage accessories instead needing an adapter. I used this since my exisiting z-wave home automation wouldn’t play nicely with MyQ.

 

[User01]

I just had two LiftMaster 8500Ws installed in my garage for this exact reason. They really open up the garage and are much quieter than the overhead units they replaced. One door has the opener mounted on the left and the other is mounted on the right. I highly recommend these side mount style openers. The stand alone MyQ app works very well. I haven't tried linking them to any home automation systems though.

 

[Zippy_EV]

I also installed a pair of 8500's in my garage along with a pair of high-lift kits for the door tracks as I didn't want the arm that attaches to the standard 7' door to ever potentially hit the X doors while open / opening. I already had a Gogogate 2 installed which worked well for remote garage door control so haven't bothered with the MyQ installation. I love the 8500's and high lift kits and wish I had installed them years earlier even before I purchased an X.

My garage is 10' 2" ish floor to ceiling.