Why Your Garage Door Spring Keeps Breaking, and How to Stop It
If you're on your second or third spring in a few years, something other than bad luck is going on. Here's what usually causes it, and what fixes it for good.
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The short answer
Springs that keep breaking are usually the wrong size for the door, replaced one at a time instead of in pairs, or simply standard springs on a garage that gets used a lot. Fix those three, and the next set lasts far longer.
What a garage door spring actually does
Your garage door is heavy. A typical two-car steel door can weigh well over a hundred pounds. Your opener doesn't lift that weight, and neither do you. The springs do. They're wound with tension that balances the door, so the opener only has to guide it up and down.
Most homes in the Boise area have torsion springs: one or two coils on a steel shaft above the door. Every time the door opens, the springs unwind. Every time it closes, they wind back up. That twisting is what eventually wears them out.
Standard torsion springs are commonly rated for about 10,000 open-and-close cycles. That's a rating, not a promise, and how fast you use it up depends on your household.
Six reasons springs keep breaking
The garage is your front door
If the family comes and goes through the garage, four or more cycles a day is normal. At four a day, a 10,000-cycle spring reaches its rating in roughly seven years. At eight a day, it's closer to three and a half.
The spring is the wrong size for the door
Springs are matched to the door's weight and height by wire size, inside diameter, and length. A spring that's undersized works harder on every cycle and fails early. If a past repair used whatever was on the truck, that's often the culprit.
Only one spring of a pair was replaced
Doors with two springs wear both at the same rate. Replace only the broken one, and the old spring on the other side is usually close behind, which means a second service call a short time later.
Rust and no lubrication
A dry, rusty coil has more friction between its windings, and that adds stress on every turn. Springs in a damp or dusty garage that never get lubricated tend to wear faster.
The door is out of balance
If the spring tension was set wrong, the door pulls on the spring and the opener unevenly. An unbalanced door is hard on everything, including the springs themselves.
The door got heavier, but the springs didn't change
Added insulation, new windows, a replacement panel, or a heavier new door all change the weight the springs have to carry. If nobody resized the springs, they're now undersized.
A spring that breaks every few years is usually telling you the setup is wrong, not that springs are bad.
Torsion vs. extension springs
Some older or lighter doors use extension springs instead. They work differently, and they fail differently.
| Torsion springs | Extension springs | |
|---|---|---|
| Where they sit | On a shaft above the door opening | Along the horizontal tracks on each side |
| How they work | Twist to store energy | Stretch to store energy |
| Typical rating | Commonly about 10,000 cycles, with higher-cycle options | Commonly about 10,000 cycles |
| When one breaks | Usually stays on the shaft | Can whip loose unless safety cables are installed |
Not sure which you have? Look above the door. A coil on a bar across the top means torsion. Springs running along the tracks beside the ceiling mean extension springs.
How to stop it from happening again
Replace springs in pairs. Both springs start fresh, and you're not paying for a second visit when the old one goes.
Size them to the door. The right wire size, diameter, and length for your door's actual weight and height, not whatever is closest on hand.
Go high-cycle if the garage is busy. Higher-cycle springs, rated for 20,000 cycles or more, cost more up front but can last years longer for families who use the garage as their main entrance.
Lubricate a few times a year. A light coat of garage door lubricant on the coils cuts friction. Skip heavy grease, which collects dust.
Keep the door balanced. A yearly tune-up catches tension and balance problems before they break something.
Try the balance test
This simple check tells you whether your springs are still holding the door's weight correctly. Only do it with the door fully closed.
- With the door fully closed, pull the opener's emergency release cord to disconnect the door from the opener.
- Lift the door by hand to about halfway open, then carefully let go.
- Watch what it does, then lower it back down and reconnect the opener.
Never adjust or replace torsion springs yourself.A wound spring stores enough energy to cause serious injury. Leave tension work, winding bars, and spring replacement to a trained technician.
Signs a spring is about to go, or already has
A visible gap in the coil above the door
A loud bang from the garage when nobody touched the door
The door feels much heavier when lifted by hand
The opener hums or strains but the door barely moves
Lift cables look loose or slack on one side
The door rises crooked or jerks partway up
If you see any of these, stop using the door and call for snapped spring repair. Running the opener against a broken spring can damage the opener, the cables, and the door.
Questions about garage door springs
Standard torsion springs are commonly rated for about 10,000 cycles. At four cycles a day, that's roughly seven years. Busier garages wear through them faster, and higher-cycle springs last longer.
On a two-spring door, yes. Both springs have done the same number of cycles, so the second one is usually close to failing when the first breaks. Replacing the pair avoids a second service call soon after.
We don't recommend it. Torsion springs hold a lot of stored energy, and winding or unwinding them without the right tools and training can cause serious injury. It's a job for a technician.
If your garage is your main entrance, often yes. Springs rated for 20,000 cycles or more cost more up front, but they can last years longer than standard springs in a busy household.
Written by the Hearth Garage Doors teamGarage door repair and installation from our dispatch at 963 S Orchard St, Boise. Call 208-295-4245.