How Tight Should Garage Door Springs Be?

One of the things you need to keep in mind as a homeowner is that your garage door springs always need to have the Right Amount of Tension. The right tension will make the door easy to operate by hand and via an electronic garage door opener.

If the garage door spring is too loose, the spring will not be able to effectively lift the door up, and the weight will make the garage door unsafe for use. Now, if the tension is too much, it can prevent the garage door from closing all the way, or it will remain closed.

Also, if the garage door has a torsion spring inside of the garage door opening, then a professional will need to adjust the tension. That said, other regular sectional doors or ones with a hinge could be adjusted using the basic procedure we outline below.

A Word of Caution

The techniques we are about to discuss below can be used by anyone to adjust the tension in their Garage Door Spring. However, we strongly advise that you don’t do it yourself. The inherent danger of getting it wrong is all too real if you are not an experienced technician.

Adjusting Extension Springs

To adjust an Extension Spring, you will want to start with closing the garage door. Then position a ladder near to the automatic opener. Unplug the power to the opener and pull the emergency release cord. We do this so that the door is disconnected from the track.

When on the inside, you will want to lift the door halfway up, which can be done using its cross members. If you see that the garage door sticks at the halfway position without any added assistance, then the tension is right. However, if you see it lowering, then the tension is too little. It will be too tight if the door goes more than halfway without any added assistance.

You then open the door by hand. Take a 2×4 brace which goes vertically into the outer edge of the door, via a handsaw. Then position the brace in that place at the outer edge of the garage door.

Take the stepladder to the area where the extension spring is located on the upper end of the garage door at the track that’s running on one side. Use a wrench to loosen the lock nut on the adjuster stem, and do the same for the spring assembly using an open-end wrench.

You would want to tighten the adjuster a full turn clockwise to add tension if the door closed easily without holding up halfway. However, you will want to loosen the adjuster three turns counterclockwise if it was too tight.

You then go about repeating the same adjustment at the spring adjuster and pulley on the other side of the track.

Once done, hold the edge of the door open and remove the brace you inserted earlier. Then lower the door halfway and test as described above. Then repeat the process a few times until the tension is perfect.

Adjusting Hinge Springs

The first step would be to disconnect the door from the opener using the provided disconnect cord. Then go outside of the garage. Raise the door by lifting up the handle.

If you can’t or find it hard to raise the door, then it is clear that the spring’s tension is too loose, which means that the Automatic Garage Door opener has to work overtime. If the door is rising too quickly, then the spring is too tight, which means the opener has to work harder to close the door.

You will want to open the garage door entirely to help relieve tension on the hinge springs on both sides. Then insert a vertical 2×4 brace inside of the outer edge of the garage door, which stops it from falling when the spring is being adjusted. You will then need a separate pair of hands to help you with adjusting the tension.

Start by working on the hinge and the spring on one side of the garage door. Hold the spring with both your hand and pull it downwards. Doing this will allow your assistant to disconnect the chain from the hook that’s attached to the spring below.

You then pull down on that spring to help reattach the hook over on the lower end of the same spring but at the next link in the chain to increase tension. If it is tight and you want to loosen it, simply hook it up to the next link. Then repeat the process at the spring and hinge on the other side of the door.

Once done, hold the door open, take off the brace, and reattach the door opener to the track via the disconnect cord.