The Purpose of Garage Door Springs

Many homeowners believe that their automatic garage door opener does all the heavy lifting when it comes to opening and closing the garage door.  Garage door openers are convenient and work hard opening and closing the garage door, but the garage door springs actually do most of the work lifting the weight of a garage door. 

Overhead garage doors can weigh hundreds of pounds and without garage door springs, they would be very difficult for most people to open.  They would also be dangerous to close because as the door closes, more of the door moves from the overhead horizontal position to the vertical position.  As a result, the person closing the door would bear more and more of the weight of the door until it became too heavy and came crashing down.

The garage door springs work by taking up the weight of the door as it closes.  There are two types of garage door springs.  Extension springs are installed parallel with the horizontal door tracks.  Extension springs extend as the door closes and contract as the door is opened.

Torsion springs are mounted parallel with the top of the door opening.  These types of springs coil up as the door closes and uncoil as it opens.  Both types of springs must be adjusted properly by a trained garage door technician in order for the garage door to open smoothly without jamming.  When properly adjusted, a garage door opened about half way will remain in that position when released.

Garage door springs experience metal fatigue and will eventually break after a few thousand opening and closing cycles.  When one spring breaks, both springs should be replaced so that equal opening tension is exerted on the door. Garage door spring replacement is a common garage door repair.  However, replacing garage door springs is very dangerous and garage door spring replacement should only be replaced or adjusted by a trained garage door contractor.