My wife's parents were in town for the weekend and her father helped
me fix my garage door. The problem began in July when one of the
cables that attaches to the big spring on one side of the garage door
snapped. The spring and pullies looked unharmed, so the focus was
just on replacing the cable (the cable that runs through the spring
for safety was unaffected). When the cable broke I went to HD and got
a replacement and set out to make the fix, but the replacement piece
had a loop on both ends, meanwhile the original cable did not have a
loop on the end where it attached to the bottom of the garage door, it
attached via some sort of squeeze clamp right to the bottom wheel
assembly. I couldn't quite figure out the best way to fix it so I put
it on the back burner and just raised the door manually (I only open
it once or twice a week to take out garbage cans, or get the mower
out). Anyhow, father-in-law took a look at it and suggested we get
some cable clamps, cut the broken cable a foot or so above where it
attaches to the bottom of the door, use the clamps to make a loop and
run it through the loop on the replacement cable. Worked like a
charm. The other end of the cable originally ran through the same
piece of metal that holds the pully and it was run through 2 holes and
kind of tied in a knot. We snipped the loop off that end of the
replacement cable and looped it through the holes and put another
cable clamp on that end just for safe keepiing.

We eye-balled the set up on the side that didn't break to see how much
tension should be on the spring when the door was open and we got it
close, but when the door is closed, the side we fixed pulls the spring
a few inches more than the the side that didn't break. The door works
great now, though. Should I be concerned about stretching the spring
a bit more on one side than the other?

Thanks....

Mike

Mike wrote:
....
We eye-balled the set up on the side that didn't break to see how much
tension should be on the spring when the door was open and we got it
close, but when the door is closed, the side we fixed pulls the spring
a few inches more than the the side that didn't break. The door works
great now, though. Should I be concerned about stretching the spring
a bit more on one side than the other?
....

"Inches more" is quite a bit of difference. I'd wonder why didn't you
adjust it while you were working on it to match?

The key question is whether the door tends to lift preferentially to one
side or not owing to more tension; if it is level they're reasonably close.

--

"Mike" wrote in message
...
My wife's parents were in town for the weekend and her father helped
me fix my garage door. The problem began in July when one of the
cables that attaches to the big spring on one side of the garage door
snapped. The spring and pullies looked unharmed, so the focus was
just on replacing the cable (the cable that runs through the spring
for safety was unaffected). When the cable broke I went to HD and got
a replacement and set out to make the fix, but the replacement piece
had a loop on both ends, meanwhile the original cable did not have a
loop on the end where it attached to the bottom of the garage door, it
attached via some sort of squeeze clamp right to the bottom wheel
assembly. I couldn't quite figure out the best way to fix it so I put
it on the back burner and just raised the door manually (I only open
it once or twice a week to take out garbage cans, or get the mower
out). Anyhow, father-in-law took a look at it and suggested we get
some cable clamps, cut the broken cable a foot or so above where it
attaches to the bottom of the door, use the clamps to make a loop and
run it through the loop on the replacement cable. Worked like a
charm. The other end of the cable originally ran through the same
piece of metal that holds the pully and it was run through 2 holes and
kind of tied in a knot. We snipped the loop off that end of the
replacement cable and looped it through the holes and put another
cable clamp on that end just for safe keepiing.

We eye-balled the set up on the side that didn't break to see how much
tension should be on the spring when the door was open and we got it
close, but when the door is closed, the side we fixed pulls the spring
a few inches more than the the side that didn't break. The door works
great now, though. Should I be concerned about stretching the spring
a bit more on one side than the other?

The original cable may have fastened to the door independently, but many of
this type also have a loop that just slips over the axle of the lowest
roller.

For the sake of dependability, I'd consider replacing BOTH cables- this time
with the loop over the lower axle shaft. I'd then adjust the length at the
spring so that both stretch the same. If you don't, the door will not be
pulled upward evenly.

Micajah