Garage Door Spring Needed

[DriveHard]

I have a two car garage door with electric opener. Recently one of the springs broke, and I have to get out and help the door up every time I want to open it. It is a spiral (torsion) spring...not a linear spring. Any ideas on where I could get a replacement?

 

[tweeker43]

it's tough to find replacements; many places won't sell them because the risk of injury is quite high.

that said, should you find them, replace them on both sides. they are rated for some amount (more than half the weight of your door).

it's better to have someone replace them for you. i just had mine replaced this year. i looked all over for them, before giving in and having a garage-door guy do it. if you let go of one of those rods, it could pile the **** thing right through your shoulder or head.

 

[XS650]

Find the brand of door you have and go to the companies website. If you're lucky there will still be label someplace on the door. The website for my brand has assembly and adjustments instuctions which are enough to figure out how to replace spring. If the website doen;t sell parts, they will be able to tell you where to get them.

The door brand is most likely not the same as the opener brand.

 

[wwillson]

DriveHard,

These springs are dangerous. I fix everything myself, but I wouldn't touch those things with a ten foot pole. When they have been under tension for a long time, they tend to break when the tension is increased OR decreased. When they break, it's really really ugly. Just hire someone to come in and fix it.

Wayne

 

[Matt_S]

Wow, so I must have been playing with fire fixing my own door. Didn't bother me, though.

You've gotten good advice, but if you're intent on doing it yourself, as I did (and lived with no injuries), you'll probably want to find a place specializing in garage doors. Check the Yellow Pages.

In my case, one of the lift cables broke. Home Depot sold a replacement, but I had to re-tension the spring afterward. I used a couple short pieces of pipe to wind the spring.

 

[Pablo]

Exactly as WW and tw43 say - I weighed out the cost of the spring, finding the correct spring and my time for doing the work safely. It was cheapest just to have the guy come out....and he was fast (it would have taken me at least 4X the time), and he used what appears to be a better spring, to boot.

 

[John K]

I have replaced the type of spring that has one on each side and is perpendicular to the door. It sounds like you are describing the kind that are parallel to the door, i.e. a torsional one. A garage guy told me they are much harder to do than the old ones I have done, and advised me if I needed to have it done to be sure to have someone knowledgable do it. He also recommended lubricating them on a regular basis, monthly or so and they would last longer.

 

[tweeker43]

when ours broke it sounded like a rifle shot. my wife and i couldn't figure out what it was until the garage door needed help going up.

then we parked outside until we got it fixed.

get it fixed quickly before your garage door opener burns up.

 

[Drew99GT]

quote:

---

Originally posted by tweeker43:
when ours broke it sounded like a rifle shot. my wife and i couldn't figure out what it was until the garage door needed help going up.

then we parked outside until we got it fixed.

get it fixed quickly before your garage door opener burns up.

---

Same thing happened to us last year. We were sitting down to dinner and all of a sudden, crack!!! I thought the Germans were coming or something (no offense to any German people here!, just a joke).

One good thing about businesses like Overhead Door is when they replace the spring, they'll inspect and lubricate/adjust everything for free.

 

[tweeker43]

nein!

du hast mich!

achtung!

nein sprechen deutch!

that's all i got. you'll notice that the exclamation points give you that fine spittle spray necessary to speak good german.

 

[Drew99GT]

LMAO!!!

 

[Gary Allan]

Funny you mention this. I was at my wrenches shop and we heard something that we couldn't for the life of us figure out. It wasn't until we went to empty the trash can ..and couldn't lift the door that he figured it out.

He didn't even touch it and called a pro. He normally does everything ..but either he couldn't figure out where to get the parts ..or whatever.

$125 for 1/2 hour (the spring included). The tech suggested spraying the spring from time to time with a lubricant to allow the coils to "coil" easier.

 

[Al]

Well just make sure you run a steel cable thru the inside of it and have it firmly anchored at both ends with a sturdy eyebold run through a steel frame member. Once you have one of those babies snap. .. you will be disposing of that pair of underwear. As I am writing I'm going to inspect my cable.

 

[andyfish]

quote:

---

Originally posted by DriveHard:
I have a two car garage door with electric opener. Recently one of the springs broke, and I have to get out and help the door up every time I want to open it. It is a spiral (torsion) spring...not a linear spring. Any ideas on where I could get a replacement?

---

I found the spring at my local Home Depot. Replace in pairs since strength will be equal and not cause the garage to kink over. I also recommend a friend to help you, its a bit dangerous especially when you wing it as I did on mine.

 

[Steve S]

Call a door company and have it done .Worth every penny to have it done. Ask about heavy duty springs.

 

[kenw]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Steve S:
Call a door company and have it done .Worth every penny to have it done. Ask about heavy duty springs.

---

i heartily agree. It is a dangerous DYI project, and they will give a warranty on their labor and parts, as well as adjust pretty much anything else.

 

[Pablo]

uh-oh someone mentioned lawyers...

 

[labman]

Use your head, it is not that bad of a job. I have replaced both mine with no problem. Mine has a disk with a series of holes in it. I found a socket extension and chunk of rod that fit the holes fairly well. Just alternate using the rods to give it a quarter turn. Finally let it unwind enough that the rod hits the garage ceiling or wall to hold it while you tighten up the set screws. Check how the door works, tightening or loosing it until it goes up evenly and will hold untouched near all the way up. You may also have to adjust the drums the cable winds up on. Note, the springs come in right and left hand, and may be color coded for strength. I bought mine at a company that sell doors.

 

[keith]

When the torsional spring broke on my two car garage door, I installed perpendicular style springs. It wasn't much work. Drilled a few holes in the ceiling joists and wired up the springs and pulleys. You can get everything at Home Depot.

Works like a champ now, and easy to fix if something wears out.

 

[mikemc]

Make sure the place that fixes it is licensed and insured to fix these springs. You don't want a lawsuit against you if you hire someone who is not insured and gets hurt, those springs are dangerous.