Garage Door Closing Crooked or Uneven
A garage door that closes crooked usually has a cable problem: one cable has stretched, slipped off its drum, or is failing. It can also be a bent track, a broken end hinge, or drums that are out of sync. It is worth treating as urgent, because the next stage is the door coming off its track.
What is happening mechanically
Two cables lift the door, one on each side, wound onto drums on the torsion shaft. As long as both drums wind the same amount, the door rises level.
If one cable slips, stretches, or comes off its drum, that side gets less lift. The door goes up crooked, and on the way down one corner touches first.
The four causes
A cable off the drum. The most common and the most sudden. Look at both drums at the top of the door and you can usually see it: one cable seated in the groove, the other loose or coiled wrong.
A stretched or failing cable. Gradual. The cable has been under load for years and has lost a little length, or is fraying and losing effective diameter.
A bent track or loose bracket. One side is no longer holding the door where it should. Sight along both tracks.
A broken end hinge. The end hinges carry the rollers. A cracked one lets the roller sit out of line and the door tips on that side.
Why it will not stay a small problem
A door lifting unevenly puts side load on the rollers, which they are not designed for. They wear, they bind, and eventually one comes out of the track.
The economics are worth being blunt about:
| Stage | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Cable re-seated, undamaged | $95 to $150 |
| Cable replacement, pair | $100 to $350 |
| Door off track, clean | $150 to $300 |
| Door off track, with damage | $300 to $700 |
Fixing it now is the cheap end of that table.
What to do meanwhile
Stop using the opener if the door is visibly binding or the crookedness is significant. If it is slight and the door still runs smoothly, it can wait a few days but not a few months.
Do not attempt to correct the drums. They sit on the torsion shaft under full spring tension, and adjusting them is the same category of work as replacing a spring.
Related questions
Is a crooked door dangerous?
It is a warning rather than an immediate hazard, but it does not stay that way. A door lifting unevenly binds in the track, and eventually a roller comes out and the door derails. That turns a $225 cable job into a $150 to $700 off-track repair.
Can I level it myself?
No. The adjustment is at the drums, on the torsion shaft, which is under full spring tension. This is one of the parts of a garage door that genuinely requires the right tools.
Why did it start suddenly?
A cable slipping off its drum happens in an instant, usually when the door was closed onto something or when it was left slack after hitting an obstruction. Gradual crookedness is more often a cable stretching or a track drifting.