Replace coil springs on garage door, Should I do it myself?
 

One coil spring broke, the garage door won't open. Should I do it myself? Looks like a lot of tension.

Only if you like getting your ass kicked by a big spring.....

Being asked by the safety technician? ;)

I've seen it done by a pro at my house and although I'm recklessly self assured at times, I'd never try it myself. Way too much kinetic energy up there just waiting to remove an errant finger!

Leave it to a guy who does it everyday.

I'm assuming it's a coiled spring around a shaft at the top of a roll up door.

what type of spring system do you have?
after you know this then look on Youtube for videos on how to replace the spring you have.
It can be dangerous but if you have the right tools/ and have watched the videos,
then you should be able to fix the system you have

Done four (torsional spring around the shaft) with a helper - can be very dangerous if you lose control before securing the hub on the shaft. This is one of those things - if you have to ask about doing it - engage a professional.

Considering your profession, you know the answer.

Look on Craigslist in the services section. Don't know about where you are but here in Phoenix, lots of guys who used to work for big garage door companies have gone out on their own. Since they have virtually no overhead the prices are very reasonable.

Measure your spring and buy it online and it is 1/10th what the local price is.

Buy a 3 foot rod and saw it in half and it works great. Do a search on the number of turns to tighten.

Totally! DIY! :D

Honestly tough... if you're careful, its no biggie. But when things go wrong, they have a tendency to go REALLY wrong.

I've watched it done at my house by a pro. Yeah, it looked like I could DIY it. But for $150, I'm not gonna take that risk. I do stupid and dangerous things that are fun. This didn't look like fun.

Don't. Leave it to the pro's. I've got a friend who got all tangled up in one, almost killed him.
One arm mangled.

Listen to Rick (post #10). If you think it will be fun, go ahead and try it. I watched it done. It doesn't look hard but the potential for disaster is high. It didn't look like fun to me.

NO... Call a po and get it fixed. It's not what I would call DIY.

But if you're a stubborn SOB like me then proceed with caution.

I recently installed an auto opener on mine. All went well but I've fixed them before.
To replace a spring you need to fully unwind the door before releasing the two U bolts.
Not an easy task on your own.

BTW, My BIL told me his uncle lost a thumb trying to fix his.

My motor install thread.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/703073-garage-door-opener.html

It was cheap to have the door company come out, something like $120 total.
Jim

same here. And when the guy was here, he suggested a few small things to improve the air seal around my door, "tune up" the wobbly old hardware etc. He showed me how to DIY, but I ended up just paying him an extra $200 to do it all. Really great guy

A friend of mine has a nice scar that starts under one eye, crosses the bridge if his nose and ends on the opposite cheekbone.
He received this beauty mark by tensioning his overhead door springs.

I hired a pro to do mine. He replaced the spring, and left me a can of garage door lube. The entire door is a lot quieter now. The spring let go in the middle of the night while we were sleeping. It was a LOUD bang and we looked all over the house trying to figure what the heck made the noise. I found out when I tried to go to work.

I suspect the other door will go fairly soon. It does not get quite as much use.

No. I've done it in the past when I did renovation and remodeling work. When one of mine broke at my house, I called out a pro who fixed it for all of $100 or so. It's straightforward, but the potential for bad things to happen is there.

Hi Hugh!
I replaced the stretchy springs on my one car garage door, but I surely would hesitate to try DIY on those twisty kind. Yikes! Scary!

If nothing else, just go online and see what it takes, (plenty of info on the googles) then consider the risk/ reward.

Sure, you could do it. Do you want to? Wouldn't you rather shoot rattlesnakes?