Garage door off track, crooked, or a cable snapped

Garage door cables, rollers and tracks are the parts that keep a heavy door moving in a straight line. When one of them fails, the door often tilts, binds or comes partly out of its track. That combination of a heavy door and parts under spring tension is why this is a "stop and call" problem rather than a weekend fix.

The parts involved

• Lift cables run from the bottom corners of the door to drums on the spring bar (torsion systems) or through pulleys (extension systems). They carry the load from the springs.
• Bottom brackets anchor the cables to the door. Rust at the bottom of the door, common where road salt and slush get tracked in, weakens them over time.
• Rollers ride in the tracks. Worn ones wobble, stick or crack.
• Tracks are the vertical and horizontal rails. They're bolted to the wall and ceiling with brackets that can loosen.

Signs something's wrong

• One side of the door sits lower than the other
• A cable is frayed, slack, or has come off its drum
• Rollers have popped out of the track, or the track is bent
• Grinding, scraping or a jerky ride
• Gaps between the door and the frame on one side

What usually causes it around here

In Independence and the towns around it, a few causes come up again and again:

• Bumps. Backing out before the door is fully up, or clipping the track with a mower or trailer.
• Broken springs. When a spring breaks, the cables can go slack and jump off their drums.
• Wind. Strong storm winds can push a closed door inward, bowing the sections and bending the tracks. See storm damage.
• Salt and moisture. Winter slush tracked in on cars sits at the bottom of the door and rusts cables and brackets.
• Age. Rollers and track hardware on older ranch-house doors may be original.

What a technician will check

1. Secure the door so it can't fall
2. Release spring tension safely before touching the cables
3. Inspect both cables, drums and bottom brackets
4. Straighten or replace bent track sections and re-anchor the brackets
5. Replace worn rollers and check the hinges
6. Re-tension the springs, balance the door and test the opener

If several sections are bent or the door has been off its track more than once, it's fair to ask whether the door is worth repairing. Our repair or replace guide lays out the signs.

Keeping the hardware in shape

A little upkeep goes a long way. A couple of times a year, look along both tracks for loose bolts, wipe out dirt and leaves, and put a few drops of garage door lubricant on the roller bearings and hinges (not inside the tracks themselves). Sweep or hose out salt and slush in winter rather than letting it sit at the base of the door, and see the winter checklist before the first freeze. And if anything looks frayed or bent, call before it fails.

Common questions