Roller assembly from ~1985 sliding glass door

Home Owner from Orlando, FL

Nov 25, 2020 3:02 pm

Hi,

Would greatly appreciate help finding a replacement for this sliding glass door roller assembly. The only marking on the door is "Alenco, Bryan Texas." The house was built in 1986 so presumably the doors is from around the same time.

The diameter of the wheel is 1 1/4 inch and the total length of the housing is 2 5/8 inches (including the little tab at the end). Width of the housing is 7/16 of an inch.

Thank you!
Greg

4 user uploaded images

10 Replies

Home Owner from Orlando, FL

Nov 25, 2020 3:04 pm

Here's a couple more pictures, one which shows it installed and the other shows where it needs to be installed.

2 user uploaded images

Home Owner from Orlando, FL

Nov 25, 2020 3:26 pm

Just read the blog and learned that there is an outer housing to the assembly that I did not remove from the door. Unfortunately I'm not quite sure how to remove the outer housing due a downward screw located directly below the glass pane that is keeping it in place. I've tried to take some better pictures of what I can see of the outer housing. I can try getting more creative with my attempts to remove the outer housing if that is needed to identify the assembly.

3 user uploaded images

Tom from SWISCO

Dec 1, 2020 11:53 am

I think I can help with this. To start out, you definitely need to remove the outer housing in order for us to get a good look at it, but that's easier said than done. These rollers are held in place by something like our 33-103 flat head counter sink screw. You will need to remove the bottom rail off the door to access this screw underneath the glass. Just be very careful; you don't want to damage the glass or frame and get hurt in the process. If you aren't comfortable with trying it, you may want the help of a local professional.

Home Owner from Orlando, FL

Dec 6, 2020 7:28 pm

Hi Tom,

Thanks for responding. Here are some pictures of the outer housing.

5 user uploaded images

Tom from SWISCO

Dec 7, 2020 8:40 am

Thanks! That's a huge help. Based on these photos, I recommend starting out with these three rollers: the 81-004, 81-278, and 81-282. Please carefully compare the dimensions we show for these products to your original part to see if you could get any to work.

Home Owner from Orlando, FL

Dec 7, 2020 9:13 am

Tom,

The three you linked all have a wheel diameter of 1.5". Would I be able to fit that in in my door which previously had 1.25"?

Thanks again.

Tom from SWISCO

Dec 7, 2020 10:54 am

Sorry for overlooking that detail! Please see our 81-279 and 81-023, then. These both have a wheel diameter of 1-1/4".

Home Owner from Orlando, FL

Dec 7, 2020 9:37 pm

The second roller you linked (81-023) is very close to the original's dimensions; the only difference is that its housing's height is 1 and 1/4 inches whereas my original is 1 and 5/16 inches tall.

Tom from SWISCO

Dec 8, 2020 9:23 am

Height is definitely an important detail. The bad news is that we don't have anything in a 1-5/16" height. It seems that the 81-023 is the best match we have, but that 1/16" difference in height may be an inhibiting factor.