BarCol Doors - DDM Garage Doors Blog

Those of us who have been in the business for a while remember the old BarCol doors. This name is short for Barber Coleman.

The greatest difficulty we remember is accommodating the incompatibility of torsion hardware. While all the other door companies used 1″ shafts, the early shafts on BarCol doors had a 1 1/16″ outside diameter. This spring anchor bracket above identifies the larger shaft, and trying for many hours to get parts to fit on the shaft was part of our initiation into the door business. We filed, we beat, we yelled – all to no avail. We learned to carry 1″ shafts or a 1 1/16″ drill bit to get the standard winding cone to fit.

Unique Springs and Drums

The old BarCol door system also used unique 1 13/16″ inside diameter springs that hooked on the ends. The cones would slide into the cones and hook either the bracket or the raised edges on the cones. The cable drums were also bigger. Many service technicians never noticed the difference. They left behind a trail of heavy doors because of the drums’ higher moment arm.

The newer BarCol doors used brackets with 1″ bearings for 1″ shafts. Many of these used the hooked cones. However, the new 1 3/4″ standard screw-in stationary cones would secure to these compatible brackets.

Special Rollers and Straps

In the early years, BarCol doors also had special rollers that tied together with hinge straps. As the door closed, a plate welded to the curve of the track would catch the top roller and raise the hinge straps.

These straps would, in turn, pull the straps and rollers along the full height of the door. This forced the ends of the door against the jambs and header.

This method of pushing the door against the jambs was designed because Overhead Door Corporation owned the patent to the wedge design that incorporates graduated hinges and pitched vertical tracks.

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