Garage Door Lift Cable
The lift cables are the two steel cables running from the bottom bracket of the door up to a drum at each end of the spring bar. They translate the spring tension into lift. When one frays or comes off its drum, the door goes crooked, jams in the track, or hangs at an angle. Replacement runs $95 to $300 installed, and a door with one cable off should not be operated until it is fixed.
Covered by Garage Door Cable Repair · from $95
The cable is the link between the spring and the door. The spring stores the energy, the drum winds the cable, and the cable pulls the bottom corner of the door upward. Two cables, one at each corner, keep it level.
This is why a cable problem always looks like a levelness problem. If one cable slips off its drum or breaks, that corner stops being pulled up while the other keeps going, and the door immediately racks in the track. That is also why continuing to run the opener makes it worse: every cycle drags the door further out of square.
Cables are cheap and the labour is short. The reason to deal with it quickly is not the cost of the part, it is that a racked door bends tracks and damages rollers and panels, and those are the expensive items.
How to tell this part has failed
- The door hangs at an angle, with one side lower than the other
- A cable is visibly loose, slack, or hanging off its drum
- Frayed strands or rust stains where the cable runs
- The door jams partway and grinds in the track
- A snapping sound followed by the door dropping on one side
- The door closes unevenly and leaves a wedge of light along one edge
Why it fails in Florida
Florida humidity is the main enemy. A galvanised cable resists corrosion until the coating is scratched or worn at the drum, and after that the strands rust from the inside where you cannot see them.
Coastal salt accelerates it sharply. In beach communities we see cables fail years earlier than the same cable would inland, and the failure is usually corrosion rather than wear.
Misalignment does the rest. A door that is slightly out of square, or a drum that has loosened on the bar, makes the cable rub where it should roll, and a rubbing cable frays at that one spot until it parts.
Can you do this yourself
No, do not attempt this
Changing a cable means relieving spring tension first, and that puts you back in torsion spring territory with the same risks. It also has to be set so both drums carry equal cable, or the door will never sit square. This is short work for a technician with the right tools and a bad afternoon for anyone else.
Starting prices for a standard single door. Your final price depends on the door, the model, the wind rating a replacement needs and what we find. You get a written quote before any work starts.
Have a technician bring this part
Leave your details and we call you back to confirm the part, the price and a time. The technician arrives with it on the truck.
Garage Door Lift Cable
Not sold separately. Price shown is fitted, by a technician who brings the part.
(561) 897-9930Frequently Asked Questions
My cable came off the drum but is not broken. Is that cheaper?
Sometimes, and we will tell you on site rather than guessing on the phone. If the cable is sound and simply jumped its drum, rewinding and re-tensioning it is the whole job. But a cable rarely jumps for no reason, so we look for what let it happen: a loose drum, a bent track, a worn bearing or a door that is out of square. Fixing the symptom and leaving the cause means you call us again.
Can I keep using the door until you arrive?
Please do not. Every cycle with one cable off drags the door further out of square, and that turns a cable job into a cable, roller, track and possibly panel job. Pull the manual release, leave the door down if you can, and park outside if you need to.
How long should cables last in Florida?
Inland, roughly as long as the springs, so around seven to ten years. Within a few miles of salt water, expect less, and expect the failure to be corrosion rather than wear. Cables are worth a look every time anything else on the door is serviced, which is part of what a tune-up covers.
