If your door has become increasingly hard to operate or you’re hearing a popping or grinding noise during operation, it may be time to replace the spring. When the spring coils become rusted, your roll-up door may not stay open or may be difficult or impossible to open from the fully closed position.

To ensure that you’re able to safely replace the springs in your roll-up door, you should familiarize yourself with the steps necessary to complete the task and make sure that you have the proper tools on-hand for the job. If you feel unsure about any of the steps or tools needed to complete the process, you should contact a professional.

 

Replacement Spring
Remember to be cautious when replacing torsion springs as they can be dangerous as wound springs are under extreme tension.

Spring Replacement

To get the correct replacement spring for your door, you should measure the opening of the door. Next, you should measure the unloaded inner diameter and length of the relaxed spring from end to end.

To replace your roll-up door spring, you’ll need:

  • Ratchet with 7/16″ and 1/2 sockets
  • 7/16″ and 1/2″ wrenches
  • Vise grip pliers
  • 3/8″ and 5/16″ nut drivers
  • Cordless drill

Method 1: Spring Replacement with Removal of Door Assembly

  1. Enter the unit with a ladder and manually roll the door up. Remove the curtain from the guides, tying ropes around both ends of the door to keep it in a tight coil.
  2. If there are 1/4-20 carriage bolts connecting the brackets to the guides, then remove the nuts with the ratchet and the 7/16″ socket.
  3. Use the appropriately sized nut drive to remove the fasteners which secure the brackets to the back plates then carefully bring the door assembly to the ground, remove the cotter pins and brackets from the axle.
  4. Roll out the door to expose the spring.
  5. Remove the bolt, washer, and nut, then take off the spring.
  6. To install the spring, reverse these steps.

Method 2: Spring Replacement Without Removal of Door Assembly

  1. Roll the door all the way down to expose the spring. If there’s an extra sheet, then remove the curtain from the guides and roll the door all the way down to expose the broken spring.
  2. Remove the cotter pin from the end of the axle pipe.
  3. Unbolt the broken spring and remove it.
  4. If there are 1/4-20 carriage bolts connecting the brackets to the guides, then remove the nuts with the ratchet and 7/16″ socket.
  5. Use the appropriately sized nut drive to remove the fasteners which secure the brackets to the back plates.
  6. Hold the axle assembly in place, then remove the bracket and slide the spring off.
  7. Place the new spring over the axel and reattach the bracket.
  8. Reverse the previous steps to finish the installation.

To learn more about spring replacement, or replacing your roll-up door altogether, contact your local DBCI representative.