Signs of a cable problem
- One side of the door sits lower than the other
- A cable is hanging loose beside the door
- Visible fraying or broken strands near the bottom bracket
- Cable has unspooled or tangled at the drum
- The door jams partway and will not move in either direction
Real examples from our jobs
Why cables fail
Cables are braided steel, and they wear at the points that flex and rub: where they wrap the drum at the top and where they attach to the bottom bracket. Moisture at the garage floor rusts the lower end first. Cables also come off the drums when a spring breaks, when the door closes on an object, or when the door has been operated out of balance for a while.
The picture above shows the drum at the end of the torsion shaft. The cable must wind evenly into those grooves. Once it jumps a groove, the two sides of the door travel different distances and the door racks in the opening.
What the repair involves
- Securing the door and safely releasing spring tension
- Replacing both cables with the correct length and thickness for the door
- Inspecting drums, bottom brackets and pulleys, and replacing worn parts
- Re-tensioning the springs and levelling the door
- Running the door through several cycles and testing the opener’s safety reversal
Cables are replaced in pairs. A new cable next to a stretched old one will not hold the door level.
A safety note
The bottom bracket, where the cable attaches, is under the full tension of the spring system. Loosening it with the springs wound can cause serious injury. If a cable is off, leave the door where it is and do not run the opener.
What to expect from a Tier One visit
Call or send a request
Tell us what the door is doing. We’ll give you the earliest time we can be there.
We diagnose the problem
The technician inspects the whole door system, not only the part that failed.
You approve the price
You get a clear explanation and the price before any work begins.
We repair and test
The door is repaired, balanced and safety tested before we leave.
Garage Door Cable Repair FAQs
Can I use my door with a frayed cable?
We advise against it. A frayed cable can snap without warning, and when it does the door drops on that side and usually comes out of the track. Replacing a worn cable is far less work than recovering a door that has fallen.
My cable came off but is not broken. Does it need replacing?
Not always. If the cable is undamaged, it can sometimes be rewound and the door rebalanced. We check for kinks and broken strands, and look for the reason it came off, which is often a weak spring or a worn drum.
Do cables and springs need to be replaced together?
No, but they wear together and are inspected together. If springs are being replaced and the cables show rust or fraying, doing both in one visit saves a second trip.
