Garage Door Cable Replacement: preparing for the visit

Your older door has springs along the tracks, and one cable has slipped off its pulley and dangles slack. The door lifts crooked and needs a shoulder to close, when it used to glide.

Worth answering before the call

Is there one spring above the opening, or springs stretched along the tracks? Can you see a cable hanging loose, frayed, or wound around the shaft? Do you have the door's manual or a label showing the model?

What are garage door cables made of?

They are galvanized aircraft-type wire rope: many fine steel wires twisted into strands, and the strands laid around a core, which gives a cable that bends around a small drum thousands of times without fatiguing. One end carries a swaged stop or a loop for the drum, the other a loop that fits over the bottom bracket pin. Diameter and length are chosen for the door's weight and height.

What information helps when I call?

Whether the door is sitting crooked, jammed partway or on the floor; whether you can see a cable hanging loose, frayed or wrapped around the shaft; whether there is a spring above the door or springs along the tracks; the door's rough height and whether it is a single or double; and what happened just before, such as the door coming down on something. A photo of the drum end and the bottom corner is useful.