DDM Garage Doors

Tutorial Index

Many of our customers have found these instructions to be helpful in repairing their garage doors. DIYers, this is the page for you.

Garage Door Troubleshooting

Garage Door Troubleshooting What does that creaking noise mean? What should I do if my door goes down part of the way and goes back up? This page will help you identify the possible causes of and solutions for your garage door problems.

Spring Information Tutorials

Introduction to Garage Door Springs Torsion-type garage door springs help the garage door open and close. Learn more about it here.
Determining Which Springs You Need Garage door technicians usually measure the torsion springs to determine which are needed, but there are two other methods for determining the springs you need.
Spring Information When ordering, there are specific details about garage door torsion springs that you need to understand to prevent getting stuck without all the parts you need.
Maximizing Cycle Life on Unmatched Torsion Springs You discovered that you have unmatched torsion springs on your garage door. It is possible to match the cycle life by winding one spring more than the other. Click for more information.
One Spring or Two? In the last decade, garage door manufacturers have cut costs by using only one spring on doors. This saves them a couple dollars per door. Do the math on 100,000 garage doors and you can see why they do this. But customers have had to pay even more to repair their garage doors. Click for the details.

Torsion Spring Replacement Tutorials

Torsion Spring Replacement This page gives detailed instructions on how to install your own garage door springs. Caution! This is dangerous work, so read the warnings carefully.
EZ-Set Torsion Springs and Options Ideal Door Company in Balwin, Wisconsin developed the EZ-Set Torsion Spring system for the do-it-yourselfers who purchase garage doors at home centers and lumber yards. This company was later purchased by Clopay Door. What do you do when the springs break? Several options are discussed.
EZ-Set Torsion Spring Replacement Replacing EZ-Set torsion springs is different from replacing standard torsion springs. The hardware is different. Parts are mounted differently and major problems can occur if they are not mounted properly.
Crawford Torsion Spring Conversion In the early days of the garage door industry, every manufacturer stamped, rolled, molded, cut, and fastened its own hardware. None of the torsion spring parts on Crawford garage doors are standard except for the 1" O.D. shaft. It's a little extra work to convert but the results will be worth the effort.

Torsion Spring Cone Replacement

Torsion Spring Cone Replacement Are you mechanically challenged? Order your springs with cones. But if you enjoy the challenge and adventure of something new, you can remove the cones from your old springs and use them on your new springs. You'll discover that removing cones from garage door springs can be quite easy. You can give it a try before ordering.

How to Measure Torsion Springs

How To Measure Torsion Springs Measuring garage door torsion springs is precise, technical work. It often stumps experienced machinists, engineers, and garage door service technicians. In the door business, we often make mistakes ordering springs. The standard joke is that we'll use them as boat anchors, but you may not have a boat! Click to learn how to avoid ordering a boat anchor.

How to Weigh a Garage Door

How to Weigh a Garage Door Often we have to start from scratch and re-engineer the torsion springs for an existing garage door. We do this by weighing the door and providing the drum information, door height, and track radius.

Winding Springs with Less than 90 Degrees of Turning Area

Winding Springs with Less than 90 Degrees of Turning Area What do you do when your ceiling above the garage door is too low and there's not enough room to wind the springs? Linked here is one solution for winding and unwinding the springs.

End Bearing Plate Replacement

End Bearing Plate Replacement It's late Saturday morning. Your coffee's cold. You're half way finished replacing your garage door torsion springs and you just discovered your end bearing is shot. Or, you've greased every moving part of your door and you still have this loud annoying squeak. And then you find this seized bearing. No problem! This can wait.
End Bearing Replacement Sometimes customers prefer to keep the same end bearing plate and replace only the bearings. With just a few parts found in many garages you can keep that older, heavier end bearing plate and replace only the bearings.

Cable Installation

Cable Installation I remember one DIYer who removed his whole garage door trying to reinstall one of the cables. You can follow a simple procedure to avoid the DIYer's mistake. In fact, this can be one of the quickest repairs. I can usually do it while holding my breath. It irks the customer because of the service fee. Take a hint from the pros.

Commercial Tutorials and Training

The following links will take you to procedures for torsion spring replacement, section replacement, and to instructions for re-installing cables. These drawings were made in the early '80's to help our commercial and industrial customers replace their own torsion springs. These are the same pages that comprise our training manual listed in the catalog. Each set of directions is between 84 and 217 kb and is in PDF format.
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IMPORTANT! In the descriptions below is the designation of the type of lift. Inside lift door springs usually wind up, outside lift door springs normally wind down, but not always. Instructions regarding the direction to turn the spring plugs to manipulate the cables may not be accurate. Winding them the wrong way could be dangerous because the springs are under extreme tension. These instructions are provided for general information only. We cannot promise that they will work for your doors.

How to Measure Commercial Springs

How to Measure Commercial Springs The following instructions explain how to measure commercial and industrial overhead-type sectional and steel rolling garage door torsion springs.

Commercial Torsion Spring Replacement

Commercial Torsion Spring Replacement 1 I began learning the garage door trade in the Chicago blizzard of 1979. One of the more challenging jobs was replacing four huge 6" I.D. torsion springs on large 22X14 sectional overhead garage doors. Click for instructions for 4 - 6" torsion springs with center-mount operator, inside lift
Commercial Torsion Spring Replacement 2 Instructions for 2 - 6" torsion springs, with coupler in middle, outside lift
Commercial Torsion Spring Replacement 3 Instructions for 2 - 6" torsion springs, with coupler and operator drive sprocket, inside lift

Bottom Section Replacement

Commercial Bottom Section Replacement 1 Instructions for wood flush door bottom section app. 12' wide with center-mount jackshaft operator - includes scribing, inside lift
Commercial Bottom Section Replacement 2 Instructions for wood flush door bottom section app. 12' wide, with center-mount jackshaft operator, outside lift

Cable Replacement

Commercial Cable Replacement 1 Instructions for a 22 X 14 door stuck open with cables off and center-mount jackshaft operator, inside lift
Commercial Cable Replacement 2 Instructions for a 10 X 10 dock door with no operator, outside lift