Back in the day, we'd just use a pry bar to get a stuck door open

I'm talking like 15 years ago, working on old Otis traction units in downtown Chicago. If a car door was jammed, the first move was always to grab a big pry bar and muscle it. It worked, but man, you'd sometimes bend the guide shoes or mess up the track alignment, leading to a bigger fix later. About 5 years back, I saw a senior tech use a set of nylon door wedges and a small porta-power kit from a company called Power Team. He slowly worked the door open without any force. I bought my own kit the next week. It's slower, but you don't risk wrecking the parts. Now I always go for the controlled push first. Anyone else make that switch, or have a better trick for a stubborn door?

3 comments

3 Comments

shah.olivia25d ago

Oh man, my buddy learned that the hard way! He forced a door and warped the sill, which turned a quick job into a whole weekend thing. Now he swears by those gentle methods too.

nathan85125d ago

Honestly sometimes you just gotta push through though. Like last winter my car door was frozen shut and no amount of gentle rocking was gonna work. A solid shoulder check got me to work on time. Sure there's a risk, but some situations call for a bit of force to avoid a bigger problem.

henry10125d ago

Ugh, that's the worst. @shah.olivia, your buddy's story is exactly why forcing stuff is a bad plan. It always seems faster but it just breaks things more. A little patience saves you from a huge mess later. Now you're stuck fixing your fix instead of being done. Gentle wins every time.