Two steel lift cables run from the bottom corners of your door up to the spring drums, and they carry the door's weight every time it moves. Unlike a spring, which usually fails with a loud bang, a cable tends to fray gradually — strand by strand — until it lets go, often dropping that corner of the door suddenly.
We replace cables with galvanized aircraft cable sized to your door's weight rating, and we inspect the drums, end fittings, and track at the same time, since a frayed cable is frequently a symptom of a worn drum edge or a roller that's binding in the track.
Signs You Need This Service
- Visible fraying, kinks, or rust along the cable
- The door looks crooked or tilts to one side when opening or closing
- A clicking or popping sound near the bottom corners of the door
- One bottom corner of the door is lower than the other
- The cable has come off the drum or is loosely wound
Why This Happens in Jacksonville
Cables fray from the inside out, against the drum groove, which means damage is often invisible until it's nearly through. In Jacksonville's salt-air coastal neighborhoods especially, galvanized cable still corrodes faster than inland — which is why we inspect cable condition as a standard part of every spring job and seasonal tune-up, not just when a customer calls about a visible problem.
Our Process
Relieve spring tension
The door is secured and the spring tension released before any cable work begins, since the cables are under load whenever the door is closed.
Remove and inspect the drums
We check for a worn or grooved drum edge, which is what usually saws through a cable over time.
Install matched cable
New galvanized cable is cut and looped to the manufacturer's length for your specific door and drum size.
Re-tension and align
Both cables are tensioned evenly so the door travels straight, not crooked.
Full cycle test
We run the door through several open/close cycles checking for smooth, even travel before finishing.
What Affects Pricing
Cable replacement is usually done in pairs, even if only one has failed, since both cables see identical wear and are inexpensive relative to the labor of a return trip.
- Single vs. pair replacement
- Cable length and gauge for your door size
- Condition of the drums (replace vs. reuse)
- Whether the spring also needs attention
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my door look crooked instead of just not opening?
A single broken cable lets one bottom corner drop while the other side stays supported by the remaining cable, which is what creates the tilted, racked look.
Is a cable repair as urgent as a broken spring?
Yes — a snapped cable can let the door fall unexpectedly, and we treat it as a same-day priority just like a spring failure.
Related Services
Spring Repair & Replacement
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Roller Replacement
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