Garage Door Cable Repair in New Jersey

Cables are under tension and this is technician work. We inspect first, confirm what failed, and check what else the failure affected.

Lift cables connect the bottom of the door to the spring system. On many doors the cable runs from a bracket at the bottom corner of the door up to a drum on the torsion shaft. On doors with extension springs, a cable runs over a pulley. As the door moves, the cables carry the load that the springs balance.

Cable repair means replacing a frayed, stretched or snapped cable, and fixing whatever it damaged or came off of, such as a drum, pulley, bracket or panel. Because the cable is part of a tensioned system, we work on both sides of the door to keep it level.

• A cable is frayed, unraveling or hanging loose.
• The door hangs crooked, with one side lower than the other.
• A loud bang came from the garage and the door will not lift.
• The cable has slipped off its drum or pulley, or looks slack.
• The door is hard to lift or jams as it moves.
• The opener strains, or runs but the door does not move properly.

DASMA advises a visual look at the cables that attach the spring system to the bottom brackets. If they are frayed or worn, they are in danger of breaking and can cause injury. Read our guide on a frayed or snapped cable and on a door that hangs crooked.

The technician inspects and confirms the cause before any part is replaced. A cable can fail because it wore out, but it can also fail because of something else, such as a bent track or a damaged bracket.

1. We inspect both cables, drums or pulleys, brackets, springs, tracks, rollers and panels.
2. We confirm why the cable failed and whether other parts are damaged.
3. We explain the repair and anything else worth doing at the same visit.
4. We safely release tension as needed, and replace the cable and any damaged cable hardware.
5. We restore tension, level the door and check its balance by hand.
6. We run the door through full cycles with the opener, and check the sensors and safety reverse.

A cable on one side often means the other side has the same wear, and we tell you what we see.

• One cable or both, and the condition of the cable on the other side.
• Whether the cable damaged the drum, pulley, bracket, track or a panel as it came loose.
• Spring type and condition. A failed cable can come with a broken spring, which is its own repair. See spring replacement.
• Door size and weight.
• Whether the door was run while off balance, and the opener or tracks were stressed.

See what affects garage door repair cost.

Our guide on when a garage door is unsafe to use lists more warning signs.

A cable repair is a repair, not a reason to replace the door, if the door is otherwise sound. If a failure damaged panels or the door is no longer square, we say so at the inspection. See garage door repair, track repair, off-track door repair and new garage door installation.

This service is available across New Jersey through our three regional teams.

• North Jersey
• Central Jersey
• South Jersey