If you’re purchasing replacement garage door springs, it’s important to measure the old ones to ensure you buy the right ones. If purchasing from a specialist supplier they will ask for several details regarding the size of your springs, and you need to get these details yourself.
If your spring is broken in pieces, you will need to put them together just to measure as if they aren’t broken.
Once you perform all of the steps below you will have all the details you need to determine the exact size and specification of your spring. This can help you when ordering new parts from specialists and when performing other fixes and upgrades to your garage door.
If you learn better with video, this 5-minute step by step tutorial will show you how to measure your torsion springs for replacement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxPhZTXe_oY
Measuring The Length of Garage Door Springs
You need to measure the length of the spring when it is unwound, but you don’t necessarily have to unwind it to do this.
When preparing to measure your springs it’s important to make sure you don’t touch the cones on the end and that you hold the springs gently. So, put the springs down on a stable surface and then measure the length from the first coil to the last coil. You want to measure the coils that are on the cones, but you don’t want to measure the cones themselves.
If the spring is broken then the process is a little trickier. You want to make sure the spring is unwound, at which point you need to loosen the screws on the winding cone. When you are able to move the winding cone you need to slide the spring back together so that they are touching. At this point you can follow the steps above, measuring from the first coil to last coil.
Measuring The Wire Size of Garage Door Springs
The spring wire measurement is tricky as calipers and micrometers won’t do you any good. The best way to measure the wire size of your garage door springs is to simply measure 10, 20, 30 and 40 coils.
First, make sure the coils are compressed, as gaps can deliver an inaccurate measurement. Insert the end of the tape measure between two coils, count to 10 coils and pull the measure to the point between the 10th and 11th coils. Record this measurement to within 1/16th of an inch.
You then need to measure the width of 20, 30 and 40 coils and record these measurements. The 20 should be twice as long as the measurement you got above, and the 40 should be twice as long as that. If it is not, then you have made a mistake with one or all of them and need to measure again.
You can then compare your measurements to this chart:
Measuring the Inside Diameter of your Garage Door Spring
The best way to measure the inside diameter of the spring is to look for markings on the cones. These markings will typically display the measurement you need. You may also find a number alongside the name of a manufacturer, in which case you can simply run a check for that number on the manufacturer’s website.
If you can’t find any measurement whatsoever (make sure you use a torch and that you scrape away debris that might be covering it) then use calipers to measure the inside diameter of your garage door spring. You can also contact Garage Door Nation’s free 24-hour online support for assistance.
Measuring the Wind of your Garage Door Spring
To discover whether your spring is a “Left Wound” or “Right Wound” simply look at the end of the coil and see which way it points (make sure the end is facing outwards, toward you). If it faces to the right, it’s a “Right Wound Coil”. If it faces to the left it’s a “Left Wound Coil”. It really is as simple as that.
If this all sounds too complicated, you may be able to simply provide the manufacturer with the serial number of your garage door and/or any measurements of the door itself.
Once Your Parts Come In, Perform the Replacement
Once your parts arrive, you are ready to perform the replacement. If you ordered the bundle kit we recommend from Garage Door Nation then you should have pretty much all that you need to get the job done. This super helpful video tutorial will show you how to perform the spring replacement: