Garage door spring broken in half - can a homeowner fix it himself?

Definitely go with the 70,000 cycle springs for the few dollars more.

Also, keep the winding bars in a conspicuous place in your attic rafters so that you have them if and when you need them again.

I've found the first time I do something, I do an excellent job and it goes perfectly. The second time I do a fine job, everything is fixed and nothing more is broken.

The third time deep down inside I think I know what I'm doing and even if I try hard not to think that, that's the time I'm likely to foul up. But I don't have garage door springs or even a garage.

(Used to in junior high and high school. It never occurred to me, or my mother I think, that it could be adjusted so it was easier to open. Coil springs, not tension springs.) For that matter, it never occurred to me that when the garbage disposal made terrible noises, it was broken. Or that when the dish washer filled the room with steam, the gasket should be replaced. All these things were like this when she bought the house when I was 10, and though I fixed other things, even when I was 10, these three things seemed to as fixed and unchangeable as mountain ranges.)

They are pain. I've done quite a few. Including on big bay doors at the dealership where I worked.. That was when I was a "young feller". Not sure I'd do the big ones today, but I'll still tackle an 8 footer. With care and the proper winding bars.

Not something for the beginning DIY homeowner to tackle.

Perhaps Stormy DOES know his limits???

Shlomo Baumgard wrote, on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:14:29 +0000:

Dunno. How good are you at welding?

Hi, I follow the rule, 4 turns(a full one turn on shaft) per foot of door height. Door being 16'x7', I start with ~30 windings and fine tune it. Worked well for me.

There are many website that help you to fix garage door parts and other things that you can fix yourself. You may also get videos from youtube for fixing door spring issues. 'What your stock broker doesn’t want you to see'

Like many other things, they're not what they used to be. The old Peterson Vise-Grips were the best, then USA Irwin, then the current offshore Irwin are less desirable yet.

If I needed new ones today I might consider trying the Grip-Ons; rumor has it they make the locking pliers for at least one of the big "tool truck" brands.

nate

i'LL ADmit, I haven't bought any for more than 10 years, except needle nose vice grips, that I treat pretty delicately. There's been no need to buy the two models I have, because so far they are indestructable.

I also have the one with the bicycle chain, but so far, I've never used that.

Why not you find one on ebay because there are many companies who offering variety of products with long life guarantee and many other features that you need.

'What your stock broker doesn?t want you to see'