So that was the culprit that made that loud crashing sound. It happened when the right-side torsion spring broke. It also now prevented the door from being opened. It was time to work on getting the cars out of the garage. Efiwym, my wife, was concerned the cars and us would be stuck inside for the weekend. She did not believe I would be able to fix the problem. I let her know I have replaced the springs before. She replied, “But you were younger then.”
The first thing we needed to do was get the cars out. I released the door from the opener. I tried lifting the door, but no luck. That door was heavy even with one good spring. I believed we could get the garage door open if we worked together. Efiwym would man the garage door opener button, and I would try to assist it by lifting the garage door. I got in position with my hands on the bottom rail of the door. I told her “Push the button,” to re-latch the opener to the door and start opening the door. As the door started to rise, I pulled up and then pushed up the door until it was up and in place. I got both cars out of the garage and assisted in lowering the door as Efiwym pressed the button.
We went grocery shopping, as I would approach this project afterwards. I replaced the springs before, but it was at least over ten years ago. Once we returned with the groceries and put them away, I started my project journey.
I told Efiwym, the springs would be about thirty dollars each. We had some coupons from the “Helpful Hardware Folks,” so I went to their site first. $85 per spring! I did not think inflation was that bad. I started checking around and found another big box hardware store that had them for about $55 each. It was weird, because one side was $54 and the other was $57? I do not remember that there was a right spring and a left spring, but apparently there was. Efiwym left to go rummaging.
As I was searching, I wanted to make sure I was getting the right springs. I measured the old one and it was about 35 inches and 2 inches in diameter. The description of the springs on the site indicated it was for a seven-foot door. Okay, I have a seven-foot door, these springs should work. I would make the trip to the store to purchase them. I verified that I had the right springs by matching the ID numbers to the ones on the website. I headed home to install the springs.
Once I was home, I read the instructions. (Yes, I read the instructions.) I watched a good YouTube™ video. I stopped the video ever so often to get the right wrenches. I was a little confused about the left-side and right-side spring, but the guy on the video stated that the left side had a red mark, and the right side had a black one. And they did. I already had the bars for turning the springs. So, I gathered up the bars, the wrenches, a vise grip, a spotlight, and I was ready to install the new springs.
I released the opener, attached the vise grips to the side rail to prevent the door from rising and started to release the good spring. With the bar tight against the header, I tried to loosen the bolts. The video-suggested 7/16” wrench was too small. I got the adjustable wrench and loosened the bolts for the spring. Thirty quarter turns the guy on video said. He was right. The last time I replaced the springs, I spray painted a white line across the springs and was told to tighten the springs until you saw 7 stripes. Well seven stripes equal 28 quarter turns. Both methods worked.
I then went through the process of loosening the end pulleys that held the door cables. I discovered that 7 mm was the right size for these square-end bolts. I also learned from last time that you need to put the pulley back in the same location on the shaft. The door will go up crooked if you do not. I tried to mark the pulley and shaft with a magic marker to no avail. There was a line on the pulley that was perpendicular to the shaft. I used that to line up the pulleys on both sides.
I removed the cables and slid the shaft off one side to remove the spring and pulley. I did the other side too. I removed the bolts from the center spring bracket next. The guy in the video mentioned cleaning up the burrs on the shaft to allow the shaft, spring, and pulley to come off easier. He was right. Unfortunately, my metal file is at work. I used emery cloth, but that did not cut it. I used my wood file, and it did the job.
I reversed the process and put the new springs and pulleys back on. I moved the pulleys back, inserted the cables into the pulleys, lined them up, and tightened down the bolts. I bolted down the springs to the center bracket and I was ready to tighten up those springs.
As the Robot in the TV show, Lost in Space,” the directions and the video, emphasized, “DANGER, DANGER,” when tightening these springs. I must admit, I was extremely careful. I placed the ladder away from, and not in front of the springs as I tightened them. As you get near the end of the tightening it gets difficult. You were supposed to wind the spring 30 one-quarter turns. I cheated and did 15 half-turns. On my last turn, I rested the bar on the garage door rail, and tightened down the bolts. Prior to tightening the springs, I latched the vise grips to the shaft and against the header. This was to stop the door from rising as you are tightening the springs. That did not work. The door started to rise as I bolted down the last spring.
The door went up easily by itself. The door did not balance itself. The springs might have been too tight. I was going to make an adjustment, but I decided that I would leave it for now and check it next week. The garage door opener worked fine, and the door closed and opened without any issues. I put away my tools and ladder. I put my car back into the garage. I gave the garage door a few more test runs. Overall, the job was not too bad. A couple of minor issues. Like none of the wrenches that were recommended worked, resulting in multiple trips from the garage through the house to my toolbox in the car in the driveway.
I left the front door open, and the garage door closed, so Efiwym would know the door was fixed. Nonetheless she came through the front door seeing me sitting on the couch and asked, “Are you done? Wow, I thought it would be an all-day project.” I thought to myself, not too bad for an old guy.
