I'm looking for the correct name and any suppliers of off the shelf
expansion spring end fittings.

The type I'm looking for are made of strips of steel about half as wide
as the inside diameter of the spring and are "U" shaped with bent out
formed ends which slip between the coils of the spring on opposite
sides, a few turns from its end.

A hole in the center of the bottom of the "U" accepts a bolt or stud to
connect the spring end to whatever it's pulling on.

The springs I'd use them on are about 1-1/2" diameter.

I think that kind of attachment would survive longer than the classical
loop end made by bending the last turn and a half of the spring so it's
at right angles to the spring axis. That type of end, not usuprisingly,
has a propensity for failing at the bend point.

If you haven't guessed by now I'm talking about garage door tension
springs. Ours always seem to fail at that end loop bend point and I'm
getting ****ed at having to repair or replace one of the four springs on
our two garage doors once every couple of years, it's a dumb ass chore
to do, especially since I have to remove and replace the safety cables I
ran through the springs the first time I saw what an unrestrained
snapped off spring failure did to the wall it slammed into.

I just spent an unexiting hour fixing one tonight by torching and
bending a new end loop on it. I'm thinking the springs would last a heck
of a lot longer if they were fitted with the kind of attachments I
described above.

Thanks guys,

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."