Garage door cable frayed or loose? What it means

You notice a few shiny wires sticking out of a cable, or one side of the door sits lower than the other, or a cable is hanging loose near the bottom corner. Cables are easy to ignore because they sit quietly at the sides of the door, but they do a lot of work, and a problem with one rarely stays small.

What the cables do

A standard garage door has a steel cable on each side, running from a bracket at the bottom corner of the door up to a drum at the end of the spring shaft. The springs are what lift the door's weight. The cables are how that lifting force reaches the door. If a cable lets go, the door loses support on that side.

What to look for from the floor

• Frayed strands. Thin wires sticking out or a section that looks unwound, usually near the bottom bracket or where the cable wraps the drum.
• A slack cable. A cable that hangs loose or has visible sag when the door is closed, instead of sitting snug and straight.
• A cable off the drum. It may be hanging free or wound unevenly on the drum.
• A crooked door. One side higher than the other, or the door tilting as it moves. See why a garage door sags or sits crooked.
• Rust or corrosion. Heavy rust at the bottom bracket, which is common where road salt and slush sit in winter.

What not to touch

Cables are connected to a system under heavy tension. The bottom brackets, the drums, and the springs hold a lot of stored force, and loosening the wrong bolt can release it suddenly. This is a job for a trained technician. Looking is fine. Adjusting, unhooking, or re-winding anything is not. The same goes for the springs themselves, covered in broken spring signs.

Why cables fray or slip

• Age and wear. Every trip up and down flexes the cable. Over years the strands wear and break.
• Rust. Moisture and salt weaken steel, particularly at the bottom bracket.
• A broken spring. When a spring lets go, the cable can go slack and slip off the drum.
• A door that hit something. A bumper strike or a door forced against ice can pull a cable loose. See garage door frozen to the ground.

What a repair looks like

A technician checks the cable, the drum, the bottom brackets, and the springs, because cables rarely fail alone. A worn cable is replaced rather than patched, and cables are generally replaced as a pair so both sides carry the load evenly. The door is then rebalanced and tested. If the door came off its track, that gets sorted out first. See off-track garage door safety.

When to call

If you see fraying, slack, a cable off the drum, or a crooked door, call us. We offer Same Day Service, we're reachable seven days a week with no after-hours fee, and we give a free estimate before any work starts. You can read about our garage door cable repair, or call 616-259-6233.