Garage Door Cable Repair
Frayed, snapped or unwound lift cables replaced with the drums and bottom brackets checked, near the bay and inland.
The two lift cables are what raise the door: each runs from a bracket at a bottom corner of the door up to the spring system, which supplies the force. When one frays or jumps its drum, that side loses its lift, and the door hangs crooked, jams in the tracks or drops. DASMA warns that frayed or worn cables are in danger of breaking and should be replaced only by a trained technician, because the cables and bottom brackets sit under the same high tension as the springs.
We replace both cables on a door, because they carry the same load and have the same age and exposure. We also inspect the drums, bottom brackets, rollers and spring tension, since a cable usually fails for a reason: a bent track, a grooved drum, or a door that was dragged along on a broken spring. Replacing the cable and leaving the cause means the new cable fails too.
Signals a Lift Cable Is Failing
- A cable hanging slack, unwound or visibly snapped
- Fuzzy, frayed strands or rust-colored whiskers on a cable
- A bottom edge that is no longer level with the slab
- A cable that has jumped off the drum at the top corner
- A door that jams on the way down or drops hard on one side
- Grinding or popping near the bottom brackets
🌊 The Biscayne Bay Factor
Lift cable is aircraft-type cable, which DASMA defines as several strands of galvanized wire rope braided together. Moisture and salt-laden air creep between the strands, so a cable can look acceptable from outside while the core rusts thin. DASMA's guidance for saline coastal locations is to keep a door closed when it is not in use, which also keeps the cables out of the weather. Near Biscayne Bay we treat rust staining or broken outer strands as a reason to replace the cable now, not at the next visit.
How a Visit Goes
Secure the door
Spring tension is locked off and the door is clamped before any cable is touched.
Inspect cable, drums and brackets
We look for the reason the cable failed: grooved drums, bent brackets, bent tracks or worn rollers.
One exact quote on site
One price covers the cables and any drum or bracket that inspection shows is worn, approved before work begins.
Replace, level and test
New cables go on at matched length and wind evenly, and the door is leveled in the opening and cycled.