My wooden garage door has the cable that goes to the lift spring hook
to a small peg on the bottom of the door. It sort of looks like a
nail head. In other words, if I pounded in a nail and left the head
stick out about 1/8" and hooked the loop on the end of the cable
between the wood and the nail head. What happens is this: If I lift
the door all the way up, which is slightly higher than the open
position which the spring lifts it to, the cable often pops off that
peg because there is no pressure on the cable at that point. Then I
have to spend a half hour running it around all the pulleys and
routing it back to that peg. This happens quite regularly because I
have to often lift the door to it's maximum height to get my pickup
truck in there. I am getting real tired of fixing this every few
weeks. Is there another method of attaching that cable to the door?
By the way, that peg is part of the bottom roller assembly bracket.

Thanks

Mark

wrote:
My wooden garage door has the cable that goes to the lift spring hook
to a small peg on the bottom of the door. It sort of looks like a
nail head. In other words, if I pounded in a nail and left the head
stick out about 1/8" and hooked the loop on the end of the cable
between the wood and the nail head. What happens is this: If I lift
the door all the way up, which is slightly higher than the open
position which the spring lifts it to, the cable often pops off that
peg because there is no pressure on the cable at that point. Then I
have to spend a half hour running it around all the pulleys and
routing it back to that peg. This happens quite regularly because I
have to often lift the door to it's maximum height to get my pickup
truck in there. I am getting real tired of fixing this every few
weeks. Is there another method of attaching that cable to the door?
By the way, that peg is part of the bottom roller assembly bracket.

Thanks

Mark


I'd be a lot more concerned about the cable flying off with the door
closed, than slipping off when it's open! This arrangement is
extremely dangerous and I wouldn't operate the door until it's safely
secured. This could kill someone.

Normally, the cable ends are fastened to the door track at an
appropriate location with an S hook. The ones I've seen have holes
along the track to facilitate this. There should also be safety cables
on the springs. If it's an older door, it very likely would not have
them either. These are cables that go through the springs and are
fastened on either end. That way, if a spring breaks, it can't fly off
and hit someone or something.

Last summer I was installing a garage door opener on my second bay.
After just about being done, I was testing it and all of a sudden
Kaboom! The end broke off one of the springs while I was standing near
it. Had nothing to do with installing the opener, it was just it's
time to go. This was in a 17 year old house. The door had no safety
cables, so the spring just went flying.

I was very lucky to not be hit. I was also lucky that it happened at
that time and not when my Porsche 911 was sitting there, as it surely
would have hit that.

Doesn't sound very safe the way it is set up but when the door is fully
opened there should be just enough tension to keep it together. Try
tightening up the springs until you get just a slight bit of tension
when the door is fully opened. And make sure there are safety wires
going all the way through the springs as was already stated.

I had the same thing happen to me one time, only the spring went inches
from my head , hit and split a 2x6 into. After that I put a cable
through the springs and anchored both ends for safety.

On 26 Apr 2006 05:46:08 -0700, "RayV" wrote:

Doesn't sound very safe the way it is set up but when the door is fully
opened there should be just enough tension to keep it together. Try
tightening up the springs until you get just a slight bit of tension
when the door is fully opened. And make sure there are safety wires
going all the way through the springs as was already stated.

OK, I agree on the "NOT SAFE". I knew that before posting this
message. But this is the way the door was originally made, which was
probably about 25 years ago. The door is painted so it's still in
good condition and I have no intent to replace it. My question is how
to secure that cable so it dont come off. The problem is NOT on the
track end. That is woven into the holes on the track. The problem IS
on the door end, where a loop simply wraps around that peg, and
nothing really holds it on the peg except the pressure of the spring.
I fully agree it's not safe, and it's a really stupid setup. What I
don't know, is how to fix it. There is nothing to connect a "S" hook
to, except the peg itself, and that would be no different than the
loop of cable on the peg now. About the only thing I can figure is to
wrap a piece of tin over the peg and screw it to the door, so the
cable can not come off the peg. But that seems like a rather clumbsy
method and I can already see where the tin may get jammed against the
door frame. I am sure I am not the only person with this poorly
designed setup. What have others done?

Thanks

Mark

wrote:

My wooden garage door has the cable that goes to the lift spring hook
to a small peg on the bottom of the door. It sort of looks like a
nail head. In other words, if I pounded in a nail and left the head
stick out about 1/8" and hooked the loop on the end of the cable
between the wood and the nail head. What happens is this: If I lift
the door all the way up, which is slightly higher than the open
position which the spring lifts it to, the cable often pops off that
peg because there is no pressure on the cable at that point. Then I
have to spend a half hour running it around all the pulleys and
routing it back to that peg. This happens quite regularly because I
have to often lift the door to it's maximum height to get my pickup
truck in there. I am getting real tired of fixing this every few
weeks. Is there another method of attaching that cable to the door?
By the way, that peg is part of the bottom roller assembly bracket.

Thanks

Mark


I know eggsackly what you are describing, and.....

Can you decrease the size of the loop by either installing a good sized
plastic "TY-WRAP" on it or just tightly wrapping/squeezing some coat
hanger wire around it so that is too small to slip over the "nail head"
on the pin?

HTH,

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

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

In article ,
says...

My wooden garage door has the cable that goes to the lift spring hook
to a small peg on the bottom of the door. It sort of looks like a
nail head. In other words, if I pounded in a nail and left the head
stick out about 1/8" and hooked the loop on the end of the cable
between the wood and the nail head. What happens is this: If I lift
the door all the way up, which is slightly higher than the open
position which the spring lifts it to, the cable often pops off that
peg because there is no pressure on the cable at that point. Then I
have to spend a half hour running it around all the pulleys and
routing it back to that peg. This happens quite regularly because I
have to often lift the door to it's maximum height to get my pickup
truck in there. I am getting real tired of fixing this every few
weeks. Is there another method of attaching that cable to the door?
By the way, that peg is part of the bottom roller assembly bracket.

Thanks

Mark


Well, all the garage doors we install use this same system and have no
problems. But the loop is just big enough that you have to force it over the
peg. Perhaps the ferrule on the cable has slipped?

The pegs are on each side of the door which is 1 1/2" wide. Is your peg in that
location or is it on the inside face of the door, which would seem more likely
to slip off.

Also, there is always considerable tension on the cable even if you were to
lift the door beyond it's upper balance point. Is your cable properly
tensioned?

--
Dennis

If it's been installed that long without anything going wrong,
then the springs are definitely stretched, meaning it's time to
adjust the spring tension. Lots of web sites for how to do that.

Just getting the loop to stay on isn't enough; next it'll be
slipping off the pulleys. You have to adjust spring tension
until, with the door all the way open as far as it will go, there
is only slight sage, if any, in the springs.

HTH, but you sound determined, so ...

good luck.

Pop


"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...
wrote:

My wooden garage door has the cable that goes to the lift
spring hook
to a small peg on the bottom of the door. It sort of looks
like a
nail head. In other words, if I pounded in a nail and left
the head
stick out about 1/8" and hooked the loop on the end of the
cable
between the wood and the nail head. What happens is this: If
I lift
the door all the way up, which is slightly higher than the
open
position which the spring lifts it to, the cable often pops
off that
peg because there is no pressure on the cable at that point.
Then I
have to spend a half hour running it around all the pulleys
and
routing it back to that peg. This happens quite regularly
because I
have to often lift the door to it's maximum height to get my
pickup
truck in there. I am getting real tired of fixing this every
few
weeks. Is there another method of attaching that cable to the
door?
By the way, that peg is part of the bottom roller assembly
bracket.

Thanks

Mark


I know eggsackly what you are describing, and.....

Can you decrease the size of the loop by either installing a
good sized plastic "TY-WRAP" on it or just tightly
wrapping/squeezing some coat hanger wire around it so that is
too small to slip over the "nail head" on the pin?

HTH,

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

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

Pop wrote:
If it's been installed that long without anything going wrong,
then the springs are definitely stretched, meaning it's time to
adjust the spring tension. Lots of web sites for how to do that.

Just getting the loop to stay on isn't enough; next it'll be
slipping off the pulleys. You have to adjust spring tension
until, with the door all the way open as far as it will go, there
is only slight sage, if any, in the springs.

HTH, but you sound determined, so ...

good luck.

Pop

Your answer makes a lot more more sense than mine. I jumped to the
conclusion that he'd already tweaked the springs.

Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

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

snipped