Two Types of Garage Door Springs

There may come a time when you need a garage door repair in Fresno due to your garage springs. Garage door springs are important because they offset the heavy weight of a garage door when you’re opening or closing it. It’s important to make sure you take care of your springs and replace them when they aren’t good anymore so that you don’t damage your garage door. In this article we will briefly discuss the two types of door springs.

Garage Door Extension Springs

Extension springs offset the garage door’s weight through kinetic energy. In simple terms, this means that when the garage door closes, the springs are stretched, creating tension. This causes energy to be stored in the springs. The next time you open the door, the energy and tension in the springs readily bounce up, pulling the majority of the garage door with it. There are usually two extension springs on garage doors–one on each side.

Torsion Springs

These springs work by being wound and turned across the metal shaft. They transfer the tension to two large metal drums on each side of the top of the garage door. This helps the garage cables to spin equally and offset the garage door weight. There can be anywhere from one to four torsion springs on a garage door.

The big difference between the two springs? Extension springs stretch while torsion springs turn.

Which One Is Better?

Torsion springs have several advantages. For one, torsion springs are much more durable than extension springs. A second advantage is that they control the movement of the garage door better than extension springs. One other reason is safety. When an extension spring breaks, it can go flying through the air and cause some serious damage to property or to you. Garage door torsion springs don’t come off, so you won’t have this problem.

With all of these advantages, you may be wondering why people would choose extension springs over torsion springs. The answer is price. Extension springs cost a lot less than torsion springs. If you’re on a budget, you may opt for extension springs to save money. Now that you know the differences between the springs, you can choose which one is better for your garage door or for your wallet.