Your garage door cables might not be something you think about often, but they’re doing critical work every single day. These steel cables help lift and lower your garage door safely, supporting hundreds of pounds of weight with each use.
When cables start to fail, your garage door becomes a safety hazard. The good news? Your door will usually give you warning signs before a cable completely breaks. Here are the signs of broken garage door cables to watch for.
1. Visible Fraying or Broken Strands
Take a close look at your cables. Healthy cables should have tightly wound steel strands that look uniform and intact. If you see:
- Individual wire strands poking out
- Frayed or fuzzy-looking sections
- Rust or corrosion eating away at the metal
- Any broken strands coming loose
It’s time to replace them. Cables don’t heal themselves – Once they start fraying, they’ll only get worse. A frayed cable is a cable that’s close to snapping.
2. Your Door Hangs Crooked or Uneven
Does one side of your garage door sit higher than the other when it’s supposed to be closed? This is one of the most obvious signs of a cable problem.
When a cable stretches, loosens, or partially breaks, it can’t do its share of the lifting work. The result is a door that tilts to one side. If you ignore this, you’re putting extra stress on the working cable, your opener, and the door tracks. What started as a one-cable problem can quickly become a much more expensive repair.
3. The Door Feels Heavier Than Usual
If you have to push harder to manually lift your garage door, or if your opener seems to struggle more than it used to, worn cables might be the culprit.
Damaged cables can’t pull their weight—literally. This forces your garage door opener to work overtime, which can shorten its lifespan. You might also notice the door moving slower or the opener motor running louder than normal.
4. You Hear Unusual Scraping or Rubbing Sounds
Strange noises are your garage door’s way of telling you something’s wrong. If you hear:
- Scraping sounds as the door moves
- Rubbing or grinding noises
- Popping or snapping sounds
These could indicate that cables are slipping, rubbing against other parts, or beginning to break apart. Don’t ignore these warning sounds. They often happen right before a complete cable failure.
5. You See Slack or Loose Cables
Your cables should always be taut when the door is down. If you notice cables hanging loose, looped, or sagging, they’re not doing their job properly.
Loose cables can slip off the drum (the round part they wind around) or get caught in the door mechanism. This is dangerous and can cause the door to fall unexpectedly.
Why Minnesota Weather Makes Cable Problems Worse
Living in the Twin Cities means your garage door deals with extreme temperature swings. We go from subzero winters to hot, humid summers—sometimes with 50-degree differences in a single week.
This constant expansion and contraction puts extra stress on metal cables. Add in moisture from snow and ice, plus road salt tracked into your garage, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for faster cable wear and rust.
Bottom line: garage door cables in Minnesota often wear out faster than the national average. That’s why regular inspections matter here.
Never Attempt DIY Cable Replacement
You might be handy around the house, but garage door cables are not a DIY project. Here’s why: those cables are under extreme tension from the torsion springs, which can exert hundreds of pounds of force.
If a cable snaps during replacement, it can cause serious injury. Even professionals use special tools and safety procedures when working with garage door cables.
What Happens If You Wait Too Long
Ignoring cable problems doesn’t save you money—it costs you more. When a cable finally breaks:
- Your garage door could fall suddenly, potentially damaging vehicles or injuring someone
- The working cable and other components get overstressed and break
- Your door can come off the tracks entirely
- Your garage door opener can burn out from the strain
A simple cable replacement becomes a major repair job involving multiple parts.
Ready to Get Your Cables Checked?
If you’ve noticed any of these warning signs, don’t wait for a complete failure. Our team serves homeowners throughout St. Paul and the Twin Cities Metro Area with fast, professional garage door cable replacement service.
We’ll inspect your entire garage door system, replace worn cables with high-quality parts, and make sure everything is safe and working smoothly. Most cable replacements can be completed in a single visit.
Contact us today to schedule your garage door cable replacement. Let’s fix the problem before it becomes an emergency.