It’s no secret now that PTR (Pro Tool Reviews) has built our new shop for storage, work, and for play. You probably read our recent review of the Clopay 3720 Commercial Doors that we installed. When you have a set of awesome, but heavy, double-insulated doors like this, you need a door opener with true grit. The only garage door opener that seemed to fit the bill was the Liftmaster 8587 Elite Series. We’re talking about a 3/4 horsepower chain drive garage door opener.
Thankfully, when we had the doors installed, the Banko Overhead Doors crew was able to install the Liftmaster 8587 Elite openers at the same time. While the installation of the openers looked very common and typical, in reality there was more to it than just nuts, bolts, and a slotted framing strut (Kindorf metal). Not only do these openers need to lift ~600 lb. doors—they need to do so with stability. Score two for the 8587 Elites (Because there are two doors, “Score one” seemed insufficient!)
Liftmaster 8587 Elite Features
With a 3/4 HP AC motor and chain drive, the Liftmaster 8587 is built to lift the heaviest of doors, including carriage house style and solid wood. In addition to the heavy duty motor, it also has an I-beam rail system and a reinforced chassis with chain drive to provide the best support. This ensures that the opener can not only lift the door, but that it also does so with stability and smoothness. To aid in the smoothness department, Liftmaster developed the Motor Vibration Isolation System (MVIS) which provides super quiet, smooth operation that should keep the door opening smoothly for years. It’s this rugged build quality and attention to design that sets an opener like this apart from smaller, less robust designs that are designed for light duty residential use.
In addition to the main opener motor (8587), Liftmaster also offers some very cool accessories and options. Our setup came with two wired 880LM Smart Control Panel, two 895MAX 3-button Elite remote controls, an 877LM wireless keyless entry system and an 828LM Internet gateway.
The 880LM Smart Control Panel is hard-wired into each opener and offers a lot of functionality for a commercial garage door opener. On top of opening the doors, you can also control lighting from this unit. Also included is TTC or Timer To Close. Once the door is open, if TTC is set, the display will show XX minutes before the door will close. A few seconds before closing, the display will flash, along with the lights to warn of the door closing.
With the 877LM Wireless Keyless Entry System, you can control up to two openers with just one keyless entry. Since there are no wires to run, it was very easy to mount the Liftmaster 877 on the outside post of the shop door. You can program codes to open a single door or both doors. Now, you can give your brother-in-law a code for the golf-cart door, so he can’t take out your fullsize hot-rod. Or, you can set a temporary PIN that is good for a set number of hours or a set number of door openings.
Liftmaster MyQ Mobile App
Now comes the real fun. When you incorporate an 828LM Internet Gateway into your Liftmaster opener network, you greatly expand the control capabilities. MyQ Technology enables you to securely monitor and control your garage door opener and lighting with your smartphone, tablet or computer. Alerts can be received as email or pop-up (push) notifications on your mobile device so that you always know the status of your garage door and lighting. The MyQ mobile app is a free download requiring no annual activation fee. The MyQ app definitely makes it easy to open my shop doors while I’m walking or driving up to the shop.
Liftmaster Elite Conclusion
While we’ve covered that these openers have all the fancy acronym titles, big-number specs, and beautiful aesthetics, how do they do in the real world? Awesome, that’s how. Push the button on the wall-mounted switch, and the doors rise to their resting position with flawless ease. Push the button again, and they return to their closed splendor. There’s no jerking, shaking, grinding, or rubbing—just a smooth operator. Yeah, I went there.
The Banko Overhead Doors crew exceeded all expectations installing both the Liftmaster 8587 Elite openers and the Clopay 3720 Intellicore doors. Thanks to the use of a DeWalt DCF895C2 20V brushless Li-ion impact driver, they left no screw unturned, nothing out of place, and all trash picked up before they left. Bob and Chris were the dream team for anyone’s garage, shop, or commercial door and opener needs. You won’t go wrong by contacting Banko Overhead Door.
Liftmaster 8587 Elite openers have a lifetime motor and 5-year parts warranty, ensuring you many years of worry-free use.
