Garage Door Opener recommendations? Direct Drive / Jackshaft?

I'm not sure where to put this thread but I'm looking for recommendations on a good garage door opener. I know I can go the standard route with a Liftmaster Chain or Belt drive but I'm looking for something unique. Cost not a concern but functionality and performance is. Quiet would be nice so I was thinking about the Direct Drive units.
Any recommendations or suggestions?

Move this to the appropriate forum if necessary. Thought it would be relative because I park my 2020 Tacoma inside

 

FWIW, Liftmaster (and others I'm sure) offers a wall-mount style:
https://www.liftmaster.com/liftmast...aWUiv_iyCZGop62mCCxoCF3QQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Next house I'm definitely looking at one. The next house is also going to have the quietest door on the market.

Just my $.02

 

My parents have the liftmaster jackshaft opener. It's way quieter than my belt drive liftmaster. My next opener will for sure be a jackshaft one.

 

Here is my experience:

I've had 3 types. Chain, Direct drive, and belt.

Chain drives are very strong and quick, but they seem the loudest to me. Mine felt like it shook the entire house while opening. But none the less, opened super quick.

My parents switched from chain to direct drive recently. It opens quick but still feels much louder than normal. Probably depends on brand and quality.

I now have a belt driven LiftMaster. It is incredibly quiet but takes a bit longer to open and close. But seriously, it's quiet enough that you can sneak in the house at 12am and potentially not be heard. Im told that belts don't last as long, but mine has yet to break.

 

Shaft-drive openers are great for getting back some overhead space, but they do not hold the door closed. They rely on an external locking pin/solenoid to hold the door down. I think there are also higher incidences of them dropping the cable off the pulleys. These were all concerns I had that made me stick to a traditional-style opener.

 

Thank you...good information. I do have concerns about the shaft drive systems. I don't have any need for more head space in my garage...ceilings are high and I don't store anything above head. Maybe it's not worth it.
I'll probably lean toward belt-drive. I do want quiet.
The belt-drive probably needs adjusted more often as the belt stretches. Even chains need adjusted periodically but not often.

Yeah, there are a lot of bad reviews on LiftMasters website for the Direct Drive model. Seems like too many issues for me to go this route.

 

I have a craftsman screw drive opener. It's not the quietest, but it has lasted 35 years without any real maintenance (put in by the previous owner).
In the 25 years I have been in the house, I have replaced the transmitter and openers, and greased it a couple of times, but that's it.

 

I've had my belt driven opener for about 15 years. Goes up and down about 7-10 times per day.

I've got to say when I replaced my failed chain driven opener with this belt deal, I was not impressed with the perceived durability of the belt. But I was was wrong. It's never failed for any reason and the belt is still within spec as far as tightness. I'd have no issue going with another belt drive should this one eventually go tits up, but will probably give a hard look at the screw drives.

 

I've had this Sommer Direct Drive from Home Depot for a few years now. Works great and very quiet.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Direct-Drive-3-4-HP-Garage-Door-Opener-1042V004/204154626

 

I have two lift master belt driven units that were installed in 2001. I just replaced the belts, for the first time, in both a few months ago. They both get used 3-4 times per day. They are incredibly quiet as well.

 

This is may not be the most appropriate but is the most populated by you previous gens. And Ranger owners. And Ridgeline white knighters.

 

Best garage door opener I ever had was the wall mount lift master 8500. Super quiet, smooth and I loved the electronic deadbolt that auto locked.

We moved and plan to get those again.

 

There is a TON of great info on garage door openers on GarageJournal, in case you'd like to read more about them.

I ended up going with a Craftsman/Chamberlain belt-drive. It's super quiet and quick (IMO).

With regards to quieting down your door, swap out your rollers with nylon versions with ball bearings. It makes all the difference. Also re-torque all the bolts in the door. I have to do that at least once a year.

 

This is good advice. The rollers are often neglected and that track shifts. It’s good to ensure they are tracking well and properly lubed.

 

I recently replaced a Wayne Dalton iDrive with a Chamberlain RJ070 wall mount. I have been very happy with it. It is very quiet. The automatic deadbolt is very nice. The up and down arrows on the homelink mirror now show the status of the door. I would recommend it.

 

I have the Liftmaster wall mount/direct drive on a single garage. It gives a lot of additional headroom without having the motor in the center, which is nice. It's quite quiet too. But it is SLOW.

I could almost open and close my Liftmaster chain drive before the Liftmaster wall mount opens. Not a huge deal, but one complaint. I had it installed because I had designs of installing a lift in the bay but have since changed my mind.

 

I went with Chamberlain belt driven when my chain opener finally crapped out. Super quiet. Had no idea that you could buy a hub and use an app to open/ close the garage door lol. Could also set alerts to remind you if the garage door was left open. It has a battery back up in case the power is out. I'm not sure if these features are standard in new garage door openers as this one i have is at least 3-4 years old.

 

Yes. The Chamberlain / Liftmaster MyQ hub is universal. I got one off the Amazon Treasure Truck for cheap. It works pretty well, with the best part being that we can see if our door is open or closed in the app. It would be nice having that integrated into the powerhead of a new opener, but it sure is nice having it for a 5+ year old opener.

 

Ahhh, didn't know it was universal. I just wanted a quiet garage door opener because the chain one was way too loud. Didn't even know about the hub till my coworker told me about it lol.

 

MyQ is pretty awesome. I'd look for one compatible. I've been using one for 4 years. Saved me a trip home to close it a few times. I have it alert me when it's been open more than 10 minutes as typically we close it before then. I also have it auto close at 10pm so we never accidentally leave it open overnight.

Had a guy working on my house one day. Instead of giving him the garage code, I had him call me when he got to my house and I opened it remotely. I set it up the most secure requiring passwords and such in case someone hacks into it which seems to be common anymore. It's a little more cumbersome having the passwords on it, but I feel better about it.