What Garage Door Cables Do
Lift cables run from the bottom brackets of your door up to drums on the spring shaft. Working together with the springs, they lift and lower the door evenly on both sides. When a cable frays, slips off its drum or snaps, the door loses its balance – and that’s when doors jam, tilt or come off the tracks.
Signs of a Cable Problem
- The door is lower on one side or hangs crooked in the opening
- A cable is loose, hanging or wrapped unevenly on the drum
- Visible fraying or rust near the bottom brackets
- The door jerks or stops partway up
How We Repair It
Cables are under spring tension, so the first step is to safely secure the door and release the load. We then replace the cables (we replace them in pairs so both sides lift evenly), check the drums and bottom brackets, and re-tension the springs. Finally we balance the door and run it through a full cycle to make sure it travels straight.
Cable failures often happen together with a broken spring or an off-track door, so we check the whole system while we’re there.