How to Adjust Spring Tension

Most recently built homes have automatic garage door openers that mechanically raise and lower the doors, but whether your garage doors are opened manually or mechanically, they require springs to do the work. Springs decrease the workload on the machine and extend the lifespan of your door system. Over time, the springs on these doors wear out, and it can make putting the door up or down harder. But before you go out and buy a new set of springs, consider adjusting them to the brackets they are hooked on. This will adjust the tension of the spring and get more use out of them.

Instructions

1

Locate the springs. Most garage doors have at least two, and the springs are usually near the sides.

2

Close the garage door. Adjusting springs while the door is up could cause it to slam shut.

3

Find the bracket each spring is hooked into. These brackets will have multiple notches. Unhook each spring from its notch and place it in the next one down if the springs are too loose, or one higher if it is too tight.

4

Open the door. It should open and close without too much force.

5

Try different notches on the bracket to find the setting that works best if your first attempt failed. On some doors you can even move the brackets to get the optimum tension.