Marc - 1, Liftmaster Garage Door Opener - 0

So, the garage door opener died the other day. It was 6 degrees outside (that's Fahrenheit) and the drive gear finally stripped out and died. It was 16 years old, so I can't blame the thing, but it picked a lousy day to die. I did some research on the web, shopped for parts, and had two choices:

41C4220A for $26.00
41A2817 for $17.68

I could have gotten them for more at a lot of places, but found these on eBay at 365garagedoorparts out of Connecticut. Incidentally, they had the best price, shipped quickly, and even wrote a pleasant message on the receipt. I can highly recommend them. The kits are MADE IN THE USA as well. Bonus.

So anyway, the difference between the two kits is that the more expensive one replaces an entire segment that doesn't need replacing, but makes it unnecessary to disassemble a portion of the opener to fix a part that DOES need replacing. I thought, "Why pay extra to create more waste? I'll get the kit that costs less and doesn't create more landfill, even it takes a little more work."

Wrong answer.

I now know why they make the more expensive option available. At just $8.32 more, it would have saved me a LOT of trouble and time. Hours. Removing roll pins that have been in place for sixteen years? Yeah, that sucked.

So if someone searches for Liftmaster Garage Door Opener parts, and has the option of 41C4220A and 41A2817, I'm hoping this post will convince them to go ahead and pull the trigger...get the 41C4220A and be glad it only cost you a few bucks more. It's SO worth it.