"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
djay wrote:
All,

I've never replaced a garage door torsion spring and one of my two is
broken.
26" 1.75 ID .2187 Diameter RH spring is broke.
I probably should replace both at the same time, correct?
Reading through a couple of "how to" websites the replacement doesn't
seem
all that difficult - just dangerous in a couple of instances and time
consuming.
For those of you who have accomplished this yourself or have had a pro do
it,
what would you recommend? I'm pretty handy (worked framing, plumbing,
electrical
[no garage door experience] finish carpentry etc for 7 summers) but I'm
not sure that
there are any additional tips/tricks (words of wisdom - I've seen the
posts before!) that
you could provide?

Thanks,

Djay
I had a spring break twice, so far, in 29 years. You could still lift the
door but it was a grunt with only one spring assisting. Each time I was
gone, so my wife called the people that installed the door. The worker
changed both springs the first time but only one spring the last time.

I've never changed the springs but retensioned them because my door is
wood with Masonite panels and changes a lot in weight from hot dry summer
to wet winter. Make sure that the bars you use to wind/unwind the springs
fit well because you don't want a slip. I used two 1/2" round bars I
already
had and they fit perfectly.

Get two (three if you have a double garage) saw horses and a plank(s) so
you can walk back and forth. If necessary make the saw horses the height
that you can work comfortably. Saw horses and planks (or better, torsion
boxes of 3/8 plywood and 2x4's works good and you will use them a lot in
house maintenance.

As long as you have the time, work carefully tie down anything that can
move, you will have no problems. You don't really have to replace both
springs. Contrary to what others said, I don't think that one spring
breaking indicates the other is likely to also. Springs don't all
receive the same temper so some break and some don't with the same use.
Currently, on my door, one spring has about 10 years of use and the other
has about 15 years of use. Being retired, I would probably change it
myself, unless the charge to replace it is really high.

Thanks for the advice group. I checked out the additional sites that were
posted and I am sure I'll be able to do the deed myself! I'll let you all
know how it worked out.

DJay