Garage Door Spring Replacement
All garage door springs—like many things around your home—will need replacement at some point. Generally, you can expect them to last around 5-7 years before they begin to weaken. Yet, unlike replacing your microwave or smoke detectors, replacing your garage door springs requires the help of a professional. Garage door springs are under enough tension to easily lift your garage door, which can weigh upwards of 400 pounds. Unsurprisingly, a spring under that much tension can put you at risk of serious injury if it is tampered with without the proper training and tools.
If you notice your garage door is not lifting as easily as it used to, call the pros at Premier Garage Door Solutions and we will provide you with a free quote on the cost to fix your garage door springs.
What do you do if your garage door opener spring is broken?
Over time, your garage door springs will begin to weaken and the door will become too heavy for them to lift. Eventually, the springs will break. Allowing your springs to get to the point of breaking is dangerous—if you were in the garage when the spring breaks, it could cause serious injury. If your garage door spring breaks it is imperative that you contact a professional to replace it!
How to replace garage door springs
Replacing garage door springs is a dangerous task that requires specialized knowledge and the right tools.
- First, you must determine what type of springs are on your garage door. If they are long, skinny springs that run parallel to each horizontal door track, then they are extension springs. If there are bigger, denser springs on a metal rod parallel to and directly above the door opening, they are torsion springs.
- Extension springs are generally considered simpler and safer to replace because you do not have to deal with spring tension. You simply open the door to relieve spring tension, secure the door with C-clamps in the tracks, disconnect the spring from the bracket and spring pulley, then disconnect the safety cable.
- Replacing torsion springs, which are more commonly used in today’s garage doors, is not as simple as replacing extension springs. Torsion springs must be removed and replaced while under tension, which means one wrong move could send this heavy metal spring flying at speeds that could prove fatal if it hits you.
- First, you have to unwind the spring to relieve the tension, then wind it back up and secure it while it is under tension. You must use a winding bar for this process - a screwdriver or piece of rebar will not work.
- Once all the springs have their tension unloaded, you would unbolt the springs from the central rod bracket, disconnect the cables from the pulleys, and loosen the pulleys so they slide from the rods.
- From there you would be able to swap the springs out, reinstall the pulleys and cables, and secure the inside ends of the springs to the central bracket. Then you would need to wind the springs and test the door to check if the proper tension has been applied.