# broken garage door lift cable and spring



## Ramone899 (Nov 13, 2009)

Hi. I have two overhead garage doors (wood sections) that are about 30 years old. Both doors have two heavy springs with safety cables running through them, and two lift cables. One of the 2 springs on one of the doors broke and came off the track. I also found that the lift cable had come off the door, where it had been attached at the bottom. So now the door has only one functioning spring and lift cable. The door closes fine but needs help opening.

I opened the door and was able to reattach the spring. Not sure what happened to make the lift cable come loose. Would you recommend re-attaching the lift cable, or just replacing it? Is lift cable repair or replacement something better left to a professional? Don't worry, I don't plan to play around with those springs.

thanks very much.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

You should replace the cables. If one breaks, it's only a matter of time until another one breaks.

FWIW, it's not difficult to replace the springs, they have no tension on them when the door is fully up. I recommend replacing them if the spring shows ANY sign of being stretched, typically a couple of coils will be wider spaced. ALWAYS replace the springs in pairs, never one at a time. I've replaced all the cables on my doors twice in 20 years, and they're getting close to due again. It's pretty easy to replace those as well, and since you have two doors, you can use one as a pattern to string the other one. Again, this is done with the door fully opened. I also secure the door so it can't move when I'm working on the cables and springs.


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## Koot (Nov 25, 2007)

Don't forget to make sure the safety cable is attached properly at both ends for both springs. When one of those springs decides to break when the garage door is down and the spring is loaded it can do a LOT of damage to cars, walls...or humans. A loaded spring that breaks could easily kill you if you happened to be in the wrong place when it broke. The safety cable should be made of stainless-steel and double clamped at each end.


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## Ramone899 (Nov 13, 2009)

ok, thanks for the help.


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## Ramone899 (Nov 13, 2009)

that's helpful, thanks very much.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Make sure that you have a way to keep the door up when you change the springs. 
If it is a flat wooded door then put 2x4 under it in a couple places and make sure they don't fall lose as you change the springs.
If it is a roll up then get clamps on each side to hold it up. Put the clamps on the track.


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