# Garage door cables?



## bluedogz (Jan 6, 2014)

So, The two extension springs broke on my 7 foot wide automatic garage door in the shop. After watching a couple of YouTube videos, I thought "how hard can this be? ", And proceeded to Home Depot to buy the springs.

Upon getting up on the ladder to disconnect the safety cables, I discovered that, except for the safety cables that hold the springs, there are no cables at all remaining between the top of the garage door rails and the bottom. In other words, even the cable that extends from the bottom of the door up to the pulley and back to the spring has snapped, and is gone.

I cannot locate any YouTube videos, or other reference material, that illustrates how to replace these cables in a cost-effective way. Can anyone offer a little guidance for a reasonably handy do-it-yourselfer?


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## semipro (Jan 6, 2014)

Depending on how the cable ends were terminated you may be able to use standard wire rope fittings to build some cables.  Big box stores carry the wire rope and either bolt on or swage on clamps can be used with metal loops for termination.


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## Jonathan70 (Jan 6, 2014)

Replacing the cables is very straightforward .... Any hardware store / big box store has replacements.  Your best friend to do this will be a set of vise grips. Raise the door open all the way & lock the door from closing with vise grips on track just at point where roller is on bottom panel of door. Be aware too that different weight doors require different strength springs.... When you replace garage door parts ALWAYS replace in pairs, not single as you want the wear to be even and door springs can be very dangerous when they break and or are installed incorrectly. F door


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## bluedogz (Jan 7, 2014)

Jonathan70 said:


> Replacing the cables is very straightforward .... Any hardware store / big box store has replacements.  Your best friend to do this will be a set of vise grips. Raise the door open all the way & lock the door from closing with vise grips on track just at point where roller is on bottom panel of door. Be aware too that different weight doors require different strength springs.... When you replace garage door parts ALWAYS replace in pairs, not single as you want the wear to be even and door springs can be very dangerous when they break and or are installed incorrectly. F door



That's all as may be, but be aware I have nothing but bits of snapped cables lying on the floor.  It's obvious that routing these cables is important, and I have no idea where they belong.  The parts are all in the bins at Home Cheapo, but installing them isn't exactly intuitive.


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## heat seeker (Jan 7, 2014)

The cable comes up from the door, over the pulley closest to the door, then back and down through the spring pulley, then to the anchor point.
You adjust the tension of the spring at the anchor point; the cable pinches itself to secure itself to the anchor point.


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## ironpony (Jan 7, 2014)

the above picture is a good reference,do not forget to run the safety cable thru the center of the spring in case something breaks again.
also be careful lots of stored energy in those springs. have someone there to help you. the door with no spring assist is very heavy.


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## heat seeker (Jan 7, 2014)

As already mentioned, do the work with the door up and secured with ViseGrips in the channel. When the door is all the way up, there is little or no tension on the springs. +1 on the safety cable! I've had springs break in another garage, and they left some serious marks in the framing 2X4's.


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## fbelec (Jan 12, 2014)

+1 on the safety wire in the middle of the spring my springs went through the wall when it let go.


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## Swedishchef (Jan 12, 2014)

While it is not a popular door setup here in Canada, those systems are efficient.+1 on the safety wire.

 I used to install residential/commercial and industrial doors. You haven't experienced fear in life until you're torquing a single 5 foot long spring that is 6 inches in diameter 14 feet up on a 20X16 foot door. Sticking 1/2 inch metal rods in the spring and turning 1 at a time....you PRAY they don't slip out. Each spring contains about 300-400 lbs of torque.


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## heat seeker (Jan 12, 2014)

They are used commercially around here - and I admire the courage of the guys winding them up! I have wondered if there wasn't a power tool to do that - seems it would be safer.


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## Swedishchef (Jan 12, 2014)

Unfortunately there's none that I know of. On the end of the spring there are 4 holes (every 90 degrees). Put one in, lift, insert second and remove first, lift, repeat! You get to know how many turns in the spring are required to lift certain size doors (there's a line on the spring and you can count the number of full turns).

Andrew


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## 1750 (Jan 13, 2014)

ironpony said:


> the above picture is a good reference,do not forget to run the safety cable thru the center of the spring in case something breaks again.
> also be careful lots of stored energy in those springs. have someone there to help you. the door with no spring assist is very heavy.





heat seeker said:


> As already mentioned, do the work with the door up and secured with ViseGrips in the channel. When the door is all the way up, there is little or no tension on the springs. +1 on the safety cable! I've had springs break in another garage, and they left some serious marks in the framing 2X4's.


+6    When I was a kid and stronger than smart, I twisted off a bolt and buried the spring in the wall next to my dad's head. 

I can still make myself nauseous thinking about what might have happened.


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