A broken garage door spring is one of the most common — and most misunderstood — garage door failures. It usually happens without warning: a loud bang from the garage, and suddenly the door won’t open. Here’s how to tell if that’s what happened, what to do right now, and why spring replacement is one repair you shouldn’t DIY.
Do this first: Stop using the door. Don’t press the opener button (it can burn out the motor) and don’t try to lift the door — a door running on a broken spring can slam shut. Leave the door closed and call a pro for broken garage door spring repair.
The springs (mounted above the door, or along the tracks on older doors) hold almost all of the door’s weight. When one breaks, you’ll usually notice several of these signs at once:
| Sign | What it means |
|---|---|
| A loud bang from the garage | The spring snapped and released its tension all at once |
| A visible gap in the torsion spring | A 2–3 inch separation in the coil confirms a break |
| The door won’t lift or feels very heavy | Nothing is counterbalancing the door’s weight |
| Opens ~6 inches then stops | The opener’s force limit trips against the extra weight |
| The door looks crooked | One side dropped — possibly a spring or a cable |
Garage door springs are wound under enormous tension — enough to cause serious injury if a winding bar slips. They’re consistently ranked among the most dangerous DIY home repairs, and doing it wrong can also throw the door out of balance and wear out the opener. The right tools, the correct spring size and wind count, and safe technique matter. It’s a job for a technician, and typically a fast one.
If your door has two springs and one broke, most technicians recommend replacing both. They wear at the same rate, so the second is usually close behind — replacing them together avoids a second service call and keeps the door balanced. Springs also come in different sizes and cycle ratings; matching the right one to your door’s weight is what makes a repair last. Curious how long they should last here? See how long garage door springs last in Arizona’s heat.
Cost depends on the spring type (torsion or extension), size, and whether you’re replacing one or two — higher-cycle springs cost a bit more but last longer. Most spring replacements are a same-day, roughly one-to-two-hour job. For a full breakdown, see our guide on garage door spring replacement cost in Gilbert, or just request a free quote for an exact, upfront price.
You can sometimes lift it manually, but you shouldn’t — without the spring the door is very heavy and can slam down, and running the opener against that weight can damage the motor. It’s best to leave the door closed until it’s repaired.
Yes. The spring itself stores a lot of energy, and a door without a working spring can fall unexpectedly. The break is usually already done, but attempting to lift the door or replace the spring without the right tools is where injuries happen.
For a typical residential door it’s usually a same-day job, often finished in about one to two hours once the technician is on site with the correct springs.
Springs wear out with use — they’re rated for a set number of open/close cycles — and Arizona’s temperature swings and dust speed that up. Rust, lack of lubrication, and an unbalanced door all shorten spring life, which is why most breaks happen simply from age and cycles.
If your door uses two springs, yes — replacing both is the standard recommendation because they wear together, and it keeps the door balanced while avoiding a repeat repair soon after.
