THSCC Forums

Have we got a "preferred" person or company who does this? It's an extension spring, not a torsion spring. I know when I'm in over my head, and I'm not doing this one myself.

_________________
Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

I replaced one that had broken, it's easy. When the door is all the way up there is no tension on the spring ( at least on mine ) making it easy to replace.

_________________
Patrice
1973 911 former track and AX car.
2016 VW GTI
2002 Nissan Sentra (Olivier car)
2012 Nissan Juke (Kathy car)
2010 Suzuki Kizashi (Audrey car)

I've done an extension spring myself. I'd be happy to stop by and lend a hand. I think the only tools required were a wrench or two and some pliers. I also had to replace a few angle iron brackets that the old spring bent when it let loose.

Scott

I have replaced a few of these and would be glad to help.

After the spring is replaced, make sure the safety cable is in place. When a spring breaks, it can be exciting if you are standing close by.

Charlie

Well look at that - I did it!

Near as I can tell, I was in the garage when the old one snapped. I was listening to my iPod, wearing noise-cancelling earbuds while doing so. I heard "something" hit the fridge, never did figure out what it was, apart from an S-hook down by my feet. I put the hook on a shelf, wondering what it was from, and figuring "this will probably be useful."

The preexisting springs were painted blue on the end, so I bought two new blue springs. That's what the packaging said to do, buy the same color painted one, which were 140lb. When manually closing the garage door without the opener, it "seems" like it's more difficult than it used to be, but the opener works smoothly and everything is in order now. :shrug:

The safety cables confound me. I've got them run through the new springs, but am unsure what they're supposed to connect to on the other side. For now, I've got one side looped around the bracketry for the door runners, and the loose end knotted around the hook on the door end of the spring. Is that how it's supposed to go?

_________________
Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

That's pretty close. I kind of remember the safety cable also being the cable that physically opens the door too. On my door it's tied up in pretty ghetto fashion using an S hook and a few other things to tension it. I just mirrored the non-broken side when I put it back together.

My springs were 160 lb, I can only imagine the noise it made when the spring let go.

Scott

The safety cable runs through the spring and should be anchored to something solid on both ends. Mine are tied to the rear bracket that supports the opener and to the front angle bracket which holds the pulley above the door.
The cable is to keep the spring in a straight line when it breaks and if the cable is connected to something that will be loose after the break, the spring may get away.



It will make you run for cover. And even with the safety cable, the pulley attached to the front of the spring can fly around. I try not to stand under the springs when the door is closing.

Alright, that makes a bit more sense. I'll try securing the door end of the cables to the pulley thing, if there is room to do so. The first time I thought I'd figured it out, the cable proved to be too short, which is why I rigged it up like I did.

There were no safety cables in the original springs, which are as old as the house, so no cheating off of that.



No kidding. I've got a bit of a complex about it now, and can feel myself wanting to duck whenever I'm near the springs.

_________________
Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

The travelling pulleys on a couple of my garage doors have a bracket with bushed hole that the safety cable goes through. Therefore, if the spring breaks, both the spring pieces and the pulley are captured by the safety cable. You might check Home Depot, Lowes, etc. for replacement pulleys with the bracket for the cable.

_________________
Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

Well, I may have to take the whole thing apart a second time anyway, so perhaps I'll look into these different pulleys.

These new springs, which are colored just like the old ones, are MUCH stronger than the ones they replaced. As a result, the garage door won't close all the way. So I either have to lengthen the cable in the pulley mechanism, or readjust the garage door opener to move further, or both.

Apartments. Sometimes, the idea does sound appealing.

_________________
Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)