Can I Just Replace One Garage Door Spring?
Can I just replace one garage door spring? Is a common question when homeowners are dealing with a broken garage door spring. Purchasing one replacement spring is only acceptable when one spring can properly support the weight of the garage door. If the garage door system needs multiple springs to smoothly lift and lower the door, then all the springs should be replaced. Read on to learn why all the springs should be replaced.
What Do Garage Door Springs Do?
Gravity forces everything to the ground so garage doors need counterweights to prevent them from slamming into the floor. Functional garage door springs should make it easy for you to manually lift the garage door without the assistance of the motorized door opener.
The springs also assist the motorized door opener in lifting and lowering the door; the springs do the heavy lifting while the opener guides the door up and down the track.
How Many Springs Do I Need to Replace?
As a rule of thumb, all of the springs should be replaced after even just one spring is broken. All springs eventually give out and if one spring has reached the end of its cycle life, it’s likely that other springs are near the end of theirs as well. Springs should be replaced at the same time to prevent an unbalanced door.
When the garage door is in operation the weight is distributed among the springs, when springs are in different conditions the weight can’t be equally distributed. Weak springs cause damaging stress to other parts of the garage door system that means in addition to replacing the rest of the springs later you might be replacing other parts as well.
My Garage Door Only Has One Spring
If your garage door only has one spring your door has a torsion spring↗ system. It is common for torsion spring systems to only have one spring. One torsion spring (of the right size) should be enough to lift a single lightweight door.
Torsion Garage Door Springs
Garage doors with extension spring↗ systems should always have at least one spring on each horizontal track. Depending on the weight of the door some systems have multiple springs on each side.
Extension Garage Door Springs
So the answer to, “Can I just replace one garage door spring?” is that it is not recommended. We recommend replacing all existing springs when one breaks. However, at the end of the day, you can replace as many as you want or as many as your budget will cover.
We’re here to help provide you the best garage door repair experience and recommendations as possible. Heritage Garage Door has served Southern California homeowners for over 30 years. Explore our website to learn more about us or contact us to schedule a repair, replacement, or installation service.