Why You Should Not Replace a Garage Door Spring Yourself

Updated November 2026 · Part of our spring guides

Few home repairs look as simple in a video as replacing a garage door spring, and few are as easy to get wrong. A spring holds a large amount of stored energy, and the job involves tools, tension and a heavy door. This guide explains why professionals insist on doing it, what goes wrong when people try, and what you can safely do instead.

Spring already broken? See our spring repair page, or our emergency garage door repair page if the door is stuck.

How Much Energy Is in a Garage Door Spring?

A garage door weighs a couple of hundred pounds or more, and the spring is what holds most of that weight in balance. A torsion spring does it by being wound tight, so a spring that slips or breaks releases that energy suddenly. A tool can be thrown, a hand can be crushed, and a door can drop.

What Goes Wrong When People Try It

• Winding bars slip and strike the person holding them
• The spring is slightly the wrong size or the wrong hand, which leaves the door unbalanced
• The number of turns is wrong, so the door is heavy or slams
• Set screws and winding cones are not secured, and the spring slips later
• Cables jump off the drums during winding
• The door is not secured while the spring is released
• A generic kit part does not match the door

The worst mistakes are the quiet ones. A door can seem fine for a few weeks and then drop when a poorly fitted part lets go.

Why It Looks Easier Than It Is

Videos show the winding and skip the parts that matter most: weighing the door, sizing the spring to it, matching the hand on a two-spring door, and setting up the safe release of tension. Those decisions come first, and they are where a first-time job usually goes wrong. Our torsion spring page explains what sizing actually involves.

What You Can Safely Do

• Stop using the opener when you suspect a broken spring
• Keep people and pets clear of the door
• Use the red release cord only when the door is fully closed and no spring has failed, and lift with a helper
• Look at the spring from the floor, and photograph it for the technician
• Note the door’s size and any labels on the springs
• Call, and describe what you saw and heard

What not to do

• Do not loosen, adjust or remove springs, set screws or winding cones
• Do not remove the bottom brackets or cables
• Do not use makeshift tools on a wound spring

What a Professional Does Differently

1. Secures the door so it cannot move while the spring is released
2. Weighs and measures the door, and picks springs sized to it
3. Uses proper winding bars and winds to the correct number of turns
4. Matches the winding hands on a two-spring door
5. Secures the set screws and checks the cables and drums
6. Balance-tests the door and checks the safety features

Related Services and Guides

• Spring repair
• Torsion spring replacement
• Extension spring replacement
• Emergency garage door repair
• How long garage door springs last in South Florida
• What you can fix yourself, and what needs a pro
• Garage door parts: names and what each one does
• Torsion vs. extension springs: which is better?

Frequently Asked Questions