My Garage Door Spring broke and now I can't get the Vett out !!

It's one of those coil up, I think they call them Torsional springs.

I wanted to take the car out yesterday cause it was nice but I couldn't get the stinking door open. ( They are pretty heavy )
I tried lifting it, but no way.

I looked into changing it myself but most say do not do it, you will kill yourself, so someone is supposed to come out today to replace it. (both springs actually) Between 10:00 Am and 2:00 Pm.

So I'll be OK, I'll make it thru my withdrawl of not being able to drive my Vett .... hope they come early.

 

I Would Have Used A Jack On That Damn Door!!

 

Thank goodness no one or nothing was hurt. I've heard of this hapenning and pieces flying throughout the garage at high velocity and damaging cars, etc. I've heard of folks putting a cover over the spring to keep it from damaging anything if it does give way and been meaning to do it myself but have forgotten to get to it.

Glad all's well except for the inconvenience of not being able to open the door.

 

My neighbors spring broke and caused the door to attack his car!

 

Get a buddy to help.. they're not THAT heavy ('course I am a pretty big man ) All the more reason to have 9 foot doors and not 16's!! Easier to lift when the spring breaks...!!

One thing I do know is the last time I replaced one of my springs, (I have a torque tube spring in each of my doors, not a torsion) That if you coat the spring with grease, it is supposed to help make it last longer and work better. I know in my case, it definately works beter and is not wound as tight to do the same work. They also say to buy galvanized springs when you replace them. Again, it works better and longer life is expected... I've heard 25% improvment...

For what it's worth anyway...

PS, the torque tube style spring is only available as a total replacement for torsion springs. It's an enclosed spring in a steel tube and is VERY user friendly!! You use a drill to wind a small wall mounted right angle winder.. very neat and simple!!

I've also now seen a torsion spring winder that is VERY much the same. EASY, simple and safe!
Menards - but maybe only fits the door sold there???

I do NOT recommend thay anyone try winding or adjusting a normal torsion spring.. It IS very dangerous and you can get hurt VERY easily!!

 

I had one break on the door of our rental house in TX. It was pretty scary when it gave way. Luckily it missed the car. Glad the Vette wasn't touched.

Hope you're back on the road soon.

 

I modified my door tracks a while back to get more clearance for the hoist. What suprised me was the weight of the door. A single garage door weighed almost 200 lbs; I couldn't lift it without the spring help.


I was told the same thing (by people wanting to charge me to replace it, or by people that have been told that and never done it themselves). I changed them myself. It's not a big deal once you do a little reading on how to properly/safely do it. It's the same as saying changing a tire on your car can kill you (and many people do die every year doing it) if you put your head under the car and knock it off the jack. Yes it's scary knowing the spring can break at any time you are winding it, but it won't hurt you if it does go (it will scare the crap out of you though).

I've heard that too and think it's BS (for an "ordinary" torsion spring set-up). Take a look at your springs. They slip over the large shaft that runs from side to side. If the spring breaks, it is still contained on the shaft; a lot of noise and rattling around, but not really much danger.

I guess I find this subject amusing since I've done it myself several times now. If you work on your own car, you can replace garage door springs and live to tell about it.

Rick

 

Its the spring on each end of the door that goes flying, unless you have a restraing cable running through the middle of them . Or I think the new ones have a built in restrainer now.

 

"torsion" springs run above the door, and have the shaft running through them, so they can't really get loose. Maybe you are refering to the tension spring type, where it does run exposed down each side of the door. Not really familiar with how those work; been too many years since I've lived in a house the had one. But I suppose they would flop around pretty seriously when they break.

 

I had the same thing happen to me about two weeks ago...the spring broke and I couldn't get the door up. Had it repaired with a new spring, new rollers for the tracks and a new gear for the opener. Over $500.00 parts and labor, but I was happy to get my Vette out of the garage after being stuck for two days.

 

There should be a wire running through each spring to control it in case of failure. If your is older and doesn't have it I would add this safety feature.

 

Actually, one forum member posted pics of gouges on the rear hatch of his C5 here a while back that resulted from his spring breaking and some pieces flying through the garage. Luckily, no one was in the garage at the time it happened. He was very upset about it but not about it being elsewhere when it happened.

Also, forum members hosenfeferdave and Myown69 have reported flying debris from broken garage door springs here in the past as well.

These may have been older springs with no safety measures installed to prevent shrapnel but they show it can occur.

 

One of two of mine broke, had the wife hit the garage door opener while i lifted the door, pain in the butt, but it worked till it was repaired

 

The unrestrained tension springs can cause a lot of damage when they let go. You do not want to be in the garage when it happens as they can kill you. Depending on how they let go the spring can fly the full distance of the garage. I know since I had one let go at my first house more than 30 years ago. A lot of older houses have unrestrained tension springs. The torsion springs didn't seem to be as popular with builders until the 70s.

Bill

 

Suggested next mod: Replace heavy garage door with new aluminum door. Mine spring busted a few weeks ago too, but my garage door opener was still able to open it because it is a light weight aluminum door. I was also able to get the springs at Home Depot (Nordstrom's for Men) and replaced them myself. Good luck with that.

 

A neighbor of mine had one break and that thing beat the heck out of his car and ended up stuck in a wall clear accross the garage. it sounded like a bomb going off. these are definately not something you should fix by yourself. those springs have lots of force packed in them when in place.

 

The wound up springs IE, above the door parrell to it, have to be wound to tension them, not really dangerous, as if they break are contained.

 

My bad.... I didn't realize he was talking about that kind of door and spring. Mine are vertical with the door hinges and they are easy to replace when they break. Well, thanks for the correction.

 

I had exactly the same thing happen here 2 weeks ago. The door could not be lifted, so I managed to get the Vette out of the third door. It took awhile, but I got it out. You're also right, you should never try to fix those things yourself, they are not that expensive to pay a professional. Mine was only $110.

 

I had a door spring break last year. It is was on an 8-foot tall door with glass windows so the door is heavier than the average plain 7-foot aluminum sectional door. It made a really loud bang sound. Since there is a steel shaft thru the middle of the spring, nothing flew.

I tied a rope around the center reinforcing section of the bottom of the door and put the rope over my shoulder to lift with, combined with the garage door motor and another person also pushing up on the door. We got it open, but man was it heavy without the spring. We got the vehicle out of the garage and awaited the repair man since he could not come until the next afternoon.

I hired an independent garage door repair man to replace the spring. The grand total was only $125.

You can get regular steel springs or stainless steel springs. They have a rating of so many duty cycles and then they will break. I used to oil the springs and wire cables down the sides of the doors with WD-40 annually, but it did not seem to make the springs last any longer.