Garage Door Springs

  There are 2 types of spring systems for your  garage doors.        

Extension Springs and Torsion Springs

 The Extension Spring sytem expands and contracts to open and close the door. It absorbs and stores the energy. As the door lowers, the spring expands to create a resistance that allows the door to be openend with little effort. The extension spring runs horizontally along the side of the track. 

The Torsion Spring system uses torque to perform its function. They store and release rotational energy to help raise and lower the weight of the garge door. So unlike the expanding and contracting of the extension system, the torsion spring simply turns.  These springs are located across the top of the garage door. The torsion springs are generally the safer of the two operating systems.  Both spring options generally last about 10,000 cycles. (Meaning you can open and close the door that many times. Approximately 7 years.) You can however, purchase high cycle springs which in theory should last twice as long.