residential garage door torsion spring replacement

AustinSN

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I've done it before, twice but I would probably pay someone to do it now. I never felt comfortable dealing with those springs.
 

olympic

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The installer who replaced my springs recommended I lube the springs a few times per year. He said the friction of the steel coils grinding against each other every time the door goes up and down will eventually cause the springs to fail. I've been using Amsoil Metal Protector but I would imagine anything that doesn't easily drip off will work.
 

P49Y-CY

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The installer who replaced my springs recommended I lube the springs a few times per year. He said the friction of the steel coils grinding against each other every time the door goes up and down will eventually cause the springs to fail. I've been using Amsoil Metal Protector but I would imagine anything that doesn't easily drip off will work.

yes that one website i mentioned also recommends oiling them. they suggest a heavy motor oil like straight 30 or 40 weight, but since i only have 5w-20 hanging around my garage, i haven't done it yet. i plan to though. i agree with you though - anything that doesn't easily drip off should work.

from what i understand, the industry standard for replacement springs is 10k cycles, which equates to about 7 years of use for a typical family. the spring's life is determined by the combination of wire diameter, inside spring diameter, length of the spring, and the number of winds it holds. for any given door weight (which springs must be matched to as closely as possible in order to correctly counterbalance it), there are actually several choices that you can either upgrade or downgrade to for a longer or shorter life.

so for example, my 2-car garage door weighs 170 pounds. my previously existing setup (which broke) was one single 37" spring with a 1.75 i.d. and .263 wire diameter. that is industry rated for 10k cycles @ 7 winds. if i had opted to stay with only one replacement spring, but still wanted to upgrade the life expectancy, i could have ordered a .273 coil x 43", rated for 22K, or a .283 coil x 51" for 34k cycles (all still a 1.75" i.d. and counterbalance 170 lbs @ 7 winds). the bigger the spring obviously the heavier it gets, so additional support for the torsion rod could be necessary in some situations.

but since there are several advantages to having two springs on your door instead of just one, that's what i decided to do. each replacement spring that i bought carries 85 lbs @ 7 winds in order to counterbalance my 170 lb door. i went with a .218 coil x 30.75" each (still a 1.75 i.d.), and now my setup is rated for 22k, which i thought was a pretty decent upgrade. i could have gone cheaper with a .207 x 24" for 14k, or more expensive with a .225 x 35" for 30k.

you could go nuts with the upgrade mindset all the way up to like a 200k cycle life, but the springs would probably outlast the house lol.
 
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jbs$

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Just because you can do something does not mean that you should do it. This is one of the few home repair jobs that is truly dangerous, pay the reasonable fee to have it done by someone else.
 

HISSMAN

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Just because you can do something does not mean that you should do it. This is one of the few home repair jobs that is truly dangerous, pay the reasonable fee to have it done by someone else.

Negative. The day I can't repair something is the day my wife would ask me to turn in my man card and shave my beard. It's how I'm wired. I didn't always use to be that way, but it is now. Even if it kills me.
 

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