Northbrook, IL · Same-day service
The Cable Inside the Spring Is Not Optional
When an extension spring parts under load it does not simply go slack. It travels. Several feet of tensioned steel comes off the pulley at speed, and the only thing between that and whatever is parked underneath is a containment cable threaded down the middle of the spring.
Serving Northbrook
Free on-site estimates. Emergency work available.
Most of the extension setups still working in Northbrook went up on houses built in the 1960s and 1970s. A fair number never had containment cables, and others lost them during some earlier repair. It is the first thing we look for on an older door, before anything else gets discussed.
Telling Extension From Torsion Without Guessing
Stand inside with the door shut and look up. Torsion springs sit on a steel shaft running across the wall above the opening. Extension springs run front to back instead, one alongside each horizontal track, stretched between a pulley at the front and an anchor at the back.
The older Northbrook garages are where extension springs still turn up, usually on lighter single-skin doors from before insulation became standard. If a company quotes you for springs above the opening and yours are beside the tracks, the parts arriving will be the wrong ones.
They Come Off in Pairs, and the Pulleys Go With Them
Springs on either side of a door have done the same number of openings. Replacing one and leaving its partner guarantees an uneven door within a season and a second call not long after. They go on as a matched set, tensioned to the same length.
The pulleys are part of the same job. An extension system runs its lift cable over a sheave at each end, and those sheaves have plain bearings that wear oval. A tired pulley eats cable, and a frayed cable on an extension door is a shorter fuse than most people realize.
When Converting to Torsion Is the Better Answer
Extension springs are not obsolete, and a properly set up extension door is perfectly sound. The problem shows up when the door has been made heavier since the springs were fitted. That happens here whenever an old door gets swapped for an insulated one during a remodel and nobody revisits what is holding it.
A torsion conversion wants roughly twelve inches of headroom above the opening and a clear run across the wall. Where that exists the door balances better, runs quieter and keeps the springs out of the space beside the car. Where it does not, we fit correctly rated extension springs with containment cables and say so plainly.
Other work we do in Northbrook
- Torsion Springs
- Roller Repair
- Panel Replacement
- Smart Openers
- Commercial
- Custom Doors
- Maintenance
- Safety Inspection
- Lubrication
- Spring Replacement
- Opener Repair
- Installation
- Emergency Service
- Cable Repair
- Track Repair
Extension Springs in nearby towns
More on extension spring replacement, or everything we cover in Northbrook.
Questions
Northbrook questions about this job
How do I know whether the containment cables are there?
Look along the length of each spring. There should be a separate cable running through the coil and anchored at both ends, hanging slack when the door is closed. If you see spring and nothing threaded through it, they are missing.
One spring snapped and the door dropped on that side. Is the track damaged too?
Often. The corner that dropped usually pulls a roller clear of the track and can bend the horizontal rail. We check and straighten the track before new springs go on, because a bent rail will destroy them again.
We are fitting a heavier insulated door. Can the existing extension springs carry it?
Almost certainly not. Extension springs are rated to a specific door weight, and an insulated replacement adds a substantial amount. New springs get sized to the new door, and that is the natural moment to look at converting to torsion.
Book Northbrook extension springs
Pick an arrival window online, or call and speak to someone now. Free on-site estimates.
Emergency service available · Free on-site estimates