With proper care and maintenance, your garage door will perform reliably for years to come. To maintain your warranty, see the instructions below for when Raynor requires performing these maintenance items. Select your environment for care and maintenance recommendations:NOTE: Due to a competitor's malicious assault on our How to Replace Garage Door Torsion Springs YouTube video, we have re-posted this quality work here on our own servers. More information is available on our Click Farms blog. If replacing garage door springs seems too risky for you, take a look at our ATL S-3 Winders. Now you can wind your springs with a drill instead of winding bars. The following instructions for replacing garage door springs are for do-it-yourself homeowners and for maintenance repair men who service their smaller commercial or industrial sectional overhead doors. These directions are designed for torsion springs mounted to both sides of an anchor bracket above the middle of the garage door as pictured above.
Instructions for replacing a single torsion spring, for replacing garage door extension springs, and for replacing Wayne Dalton Torquemaster springs are linked to our DIY Instructions page above. You'll also find a link for any other garage door parts you may need while repairing your door. How much should a garage door spring replacement cost? The national average is between $200 and $300 for a professional to come to your house and replace two springs. On line sources suggest a higher price of over $700 and that you will save $500 or more by replacing springs yourself. This is simply not true. To find the cost for replacing springs in your area look for a reputable company through Yelp or the Better Busienss Bureau. If clicking a site's BBB logo doesn't take you to the BBB site, we advise purchasing your springs from a different company. These instructions are for doors with cable drums and cables that look similar to those in the picture below. The next part beyond the end of the spring assembly is the cable drum.
The drum is cast aluminum alloy 4" in diameter and 12.6" in circumference around the flat portion. Just beyond the cable drum is the end bearing plate. The cable unwraps off the back of the drum between the drum and the garage wall or jamb and travels down alongside the door, inside the track brackets and behind the roller stems as shown. If your garage spring assembly is different from this, parts of these instructions may be helpful, but other parts may give dangerous, inaccurate directions which could cost you a lot of time and money should you attempt to replace the springs using standard instructions. For example, low headroom garage doors often have cable drums on the outside of the end plate and the torsion springs usually wind down rather than up. They normally have left wind springs mounted on the left side of the spring anchor bracket and right wind springs mounted on the right side of the bracket. The first part on the shaft beyond each torsion spring is the end bearing plate.
Just beyond the end bearing plate is the cable drum. On these the cable often runs on the front of the cable drum. The bottom of the cable is attached to a bracket that wraps around the front of and outside the vertical track. Another example is the Ideal or Clopay EZ-Set Torsion Spring System for garage doors. These are distributed at Home Depot and Menards home centers. While the manufacturer has made great strides in developing a safe design for do-it-yourselfers to install their torsion springs, replacing these parts can be very difficult. On our EZ-Set Torsion Springs page you will find several options for replacing these springs. We also have step by step instructions for EZ-Set Torsion Spring Replacement. In addition, one of our customers has provided excellent EZ-Set Torsion System instructions for removing the spring without wrecking the winding unit that secures the stationary cone. Instead of a spanner tool, you may prefer to use a pipe wrench or large channel locks to hook the end of the spring and remove it from the cones in the last step.
Pictured above is an EZ Set system with oil tempered springs. Many of the newer doors have galvanized garage door springs. Older Crawford torsion springs are different and the counterbalance hardware is unique. A special Crawford Torsion Spring Conversion page has been provided to use in conjunction with this page. If one of your door springs just broke and you are looking for instructions to decide if you can change the spring or springs safely and correctly, this page should help. DO NOT OPEN AND CLOSE YOUR GARAGE DOOR. Wooden garage doors are heavy and will probably damage or ruin the opener. The tops of steel doors often bend when operated with broken springs. For a scholarly introduction to torsion springs and for more information on how to install them I recommend you visit Richard Kinch's page, "How I Replaced Deadly Garage Door Torsion Springs and Lived to Tell the Tale." Richard is a brilliant engineer who has provided a wealth of technical information on fixing torsion springs along with valuable advice regarding some of the schemes unscrupulous garage door companies use to rip people off.
If you have decided to replace your springs, if you are sure your door had the correct springs, and if you are ready to buy new ones, we recommend that you measure your spring or springs following the instructions in Step 4 below. Measuring springs can be difficult; most individuals, even garage door technicians, sometimes have difficulty measuring torsion springs. Ordering incorrect springs wastes time and money. If you are not sure if your door had the correct springs, we recommend that you weigh your door using an analog scale. From my own field experience I would estimate that at least 10% of the doors have the incorrect springs on them. In addition to this, most manufacturers spring their doors using a 20 pound window. We like to improve the garage door balance. A third option is to determine the door size and model number. After you gather the necessary information you can order garage door springs. Before getting started on the replacement, it is essential that we begin these instructions with our sternest warning:
Replacing garage door torsion springs is dangerous because the springs are under tension. If you do not use the right tools and follow safe procedures, you could lose hands, limbs or even your life. You could also damage property. We want your business, but not at the expense of your well being. Doing the job right is your responsibility. If you have any doubts about your ability to safely change your springs, we recommend you hire a professional to repair your garage door. The following procedures are based on my 30 years in the garage door industry. In spite of my high mechanical aptitude, even after 18 years in the trade I lost the end of my left index finger. A few years later I had five stitches in my right thumb, and a year later five stitches in my left thumb. In 2004 emergency room staffs dug steel out of my eye and sewed up my ring finger with eight stitches. The best I can do is help you minimize the risk of injury; that's all I can do for myself. I am not so naive as to think that I have made my last trip to the emergency room.
Repairing garage doors, particularly replacing torsion springs, is dangerous work, whether you are a do-it-yourself homeowner or an experienced technician. It is impossible to cover every dangerous situation you may encounter. The directions below hopefully will help guide you in safely replacing your springs, but there are no guarantees. Pay special attention to the warnings that appear in red.Due to dangerous steps below that can result in bodily injury, we recommend that you carefully study all the instructions below before beginning your work. 2.1 Two important assumptions will help you execute this replacement safely. 2.5 With the door closed, unplug the power cord to the garage door opener. Some older openers are hardwired and you will need to remove a fuse or flip the circuit breaker. 2.6 Disengage the opener from the door. Some garage door openers have a neutral position for the trolley disconnect. On older openers you may need to remove the L-shaped drawbar arm.