Rant: The overhead garage door spring snapped while I was halfway out this morning

Was leaving for work around 7:30, opened the garage door, drove the car halfway out, and then BANG. Door stopped moving and the cable went slack. Had to park on the lawn and call a repair guy. He said the spring was 7 years old and overdue. Cost me $285 for a replacement and a lecture about maintenance. Anyone else ever get caught like that with a random mechanical failure at the worst possible time?

3 comments

3 Comments

tara6421d ago

Oh man, that sucks! But wait, $285 for a spring replacement? That actually sounds pretty reasonable. I had mine snap a couple years ago and it was more like $350. Not trying to one-up you or anything, just saying you might have gotten off easy compared to what some places charge. The real trick is to check those springs once a year and spray them with silicone lube, not WD-40. That stuff can actually make the metal brittle over time.

the_jake1d ago

...also, did that repair guy give you any tips on how to check if the spring is gonna go soon? Because I feel like most people just ignore it until it snaps, but there has to be some kind of warning sign. Like does the door start making a weird noise or feel more heavy when you lift it manually? I'm trying to avoid that whole "parked on the lawn" situation myself.

linda11421h ago

Actually, I'm gonna gently push back on the silicone lube thing a little (and I know you're trying to be helpful, tara642). Spraying the spring itself with silicone lube can actually attract dust and grit, which gets inside the coils and speeds up wear. The real tip for checking a spring before it snaps is to look for a gap between the coils. When the spring is relaxed (door closed, tension off), the coils should be touching each other. If you see daylight between any of them, that spring is losing its temper and about to go. Also, the heavy door feeling you mentioned, the_jake - yep, that's a big sign. If you have to fight it to lift it manually, the spring tension is off. Best trick I ever got: take a photo of the spring coils when the door is down, then compare it to a new one online. That gap is your warning.