How to Know your Garage Torsion Spring Needs Repairs
- Published On
- June 22, 2023
- By Metro GDS
Garage torsion springs can be considered the muscles of your garage door that exert the effort to lift it when commanded and allow it to smoothly close. When torsion springs experience issues, your garage might behave strangely or make weird sounds – and this is actually a sign of imminent danger, as the immense weight of your garage can come crashing down. Here’s a guide to some important signs that indicate that your garage torsion springs require repairs, as prepared by the garage door experts here at Los Angeles Garage Door and Gates.
UNEVEN CLOSING OR OPENING
If when you close or open your garage door you notice that one side is opening faster than the other, causing the door to be crooked in the track in which it moves, it’s likely your spring is having issues. One spring might be weaker than the spring on the other side – make sure to have the springs inspected and potentially repaired by a licensed garage door technician.
STAY TESTING HAS FAILED
You can manually test the function of your garage door springs by disengaging the automatic opener and then raising the door by hand. If the door stays up, the springs are working If the door starts to slowly lower and won’t stay where you lifted it to, the springs are degrading and need to be replaced. Another test is lifting the door midway – if the springs work, the door will stay in position – but if the door felt very heavy when you open it, the springs are starting to weaken – and if the door felt too light, you might have the wrong type of springs installed.
GENERAL LIFESPAN AGE
If your garage door torsion springs are 10 years old or older, you should take it as a fact that they need to be replaced. While some springs may function for more than a decade, in general they don’t, so why risk the danger of injury? Simply have them replaced.
STRANGE NOISES
Modern garage doors and garage door openers are made specifically with quiet operation as a priority. If your garage door is making loud strange sounds when it’s opened or shut it’s likely that this indicates failing springs. These sounds range from squeaking, popping, and creaking – and may indicate that the springs are ABOUT to break, or have already broken.