I try to lubricate the garage door springs and rollers once a year. I use a spray-on lubricant specifically made for this purpose, and can be purchased at Lowes or Home Depot.

As a new homeowner many years ago, I had no idea this was something that had to be done, until the spring broke. It was a $600 lesson.

I remember the first time I had a garage door spring break. It happened in the middle of the night and I jumped straight up in bed and thought someone was breaking down the front door....got out of bed and searched the house and even outside and couldn't find a thing and barely slept the rest of the night. Left early the next morning and I get a call from my wife "the garage door won't open and I can't get out".....luckily the spring broke at the very end and I was able to reconnect it with some 1/8" cable and a couple of clamps.

Are you lubricating the spring to keep it from rusting? Otherwise I see no point in lubing a spring.

Friction of each Coil rotating and constricting against one another. They need lube to reduce binding.

I think I read about this product on this forum and found some at Lowes.I sprayed my springs with it and also use it on hedge clippers,bicycle chains,snow blowers etc.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^I see the protectant has a red straw to boot!!

quote:

Originally posted by recoatlift:
I see the protectant has a red straw to boot!!

Not for sale on the left coast.

I use CLP. It works well enough.

I purchased a replacement spring for mine when it broke. Installed myself, not a difficult job. Saved a buttock load of $$.

Two types of springs on doors. The stretch kind and the wind up kind. It can be a big difference in cost and difficulty of changing.

I always replaced a broken spring as a matched set, unless its a single spring setup. Springs can fatigue and break with time and use.

I have been on many non-functional door calls only to find a good oiling is all that is needed. Easy money! And, the homeowner is usually super happy because he gets off cheap. Once a year for two or three years and it seems to get everything well saturated and then every two to five years usually is fine, depending some on use and location.

If you notice you door rattling more than it seems it used to, it likely needs oiling. A properly adjusted and well oiled door runs pretty quite.

Our TV watching room was right over the garage. One night, there was this horrendous BANG. Scared the hell out of us. We rushed down to the garage, thinking one of the cars had exploded. Everything looked normal in the garage. Took quite a while to figure out what happened.

I'm big on the truck door hinges, detent mechanisms, hood latch, hinges, springs, tailgate pivot, and lock cylinders.

ACDelco 12346241 Synthetic Multi-Purpose Glycol Lubricant seems to have jumped up in price.

Lately I've used Liquid Wrench Silicone Spray.

Local installer replaced mine for $175 I think. I oil everything except the springs. Not sure it would help. Maybe it would. Ours got about 15 years use before metal fatigue won on one.
Also, I was told to never let silicone spray get on your vehicles.

How much lubricant do you apply on a torsion type spring? Do you just spray the top and front of the spring when the door is in the down position?

Mine broke at about year 8 in my home. The guy who replaced it told me to hit it with WD40 once every few months. So I do it quarterly (and the roller tracks) and 10 years later, no issues.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigarms229,

I spray my rollers, but have never done the torsion spring. Maybe I should.

I did the lube every six months with Liquid Wrench dry lube, per the recommendation of the company that originally installed that door. Ultimately the spring broke anyway after about 7 or 8 years. Had a different company come in about 7 or 8 years ago to replace the spring; they ended up putting back in a shorter length coil spring and also recommended that the spring be lubed every six months. So I've mostly followed that, spraying the spring down a little more frequently every 4-6 months.

But it shamefully doesn't seem to matter. The last two months the door has been acting up in the same way that it did prior to the first spring breaking in two. Might be due to something else but my money is on the spring.

Ours broke a couple months ago, I never lubed it, not sure if the prior owner did. Door guy didn't say anything about lubing. He had to come out a couple times afterwards, too much tension, not adjusted right, it works now but its not the same. I miss my old spring.

My door has been squeaking for a few weeks and I keep the rollers lubed. Yesterday, I lubed the spring and the noise stopped. Thanks for posting this!

After reading this thread, I just got back from lubing the springs(also the rollers and joints) on all three doors. I have never lubed the springs before, but feel that it can't hurt to do it.