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egus t1_iu559sq wrote

Reply to comment by WardStradlater in [Help] Please advise on how to safely remove an old garage door spring (existing guides are all for new styles of torsion spring) by moron_that_later

A pair of vice grips on the track will hold the door if he doesn't have a long enough pipe or ladder

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TubbyBeefpile t1_iu6vzw6 wrote

C clamps work too if your buddy borrowed your good vice grips and never gave them back. Prolly not sure why you call him buddy anymore.. but hey, there ya go.

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joshkpoetry t1_iu8nnbf wrote

Good tip, but I have several pairs of the same vise grips because the buddy I loan them to is myself.

I eventually find them, but it has turned out pretty useful to have a few pairs distributed around the place.

One pair lives by the lawnmower gas can and exists mainly to adjust the mower deck height, for example.

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erogbass t1_iu9h0ru wrote

Lol how destroyed are the bolts for the height adjustment after years of using vice grips on them?

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joshkpoetry t1_iua5zau wrote

They're a little rough, lol.

Not that bad--they're more like spring-loaded pins. They had plastic hook-shaped handles to make pulling them out of height selection holes, but most of those hooks have broken off.

So I'm not using the vise grips to turn nuts/bolts. Just for grip while pulling.

Still, they're a little chewed up, lol.

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stanolshefski t1_iu8teta wrote

My dad used to use C clamps and Vice Grips as a backup garage door lock when we went on vacation.

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jeffersonairmattress t1_iu5rtni wrote

Tracks are for rollup or torsion spring doors- tilters and floders use pivots counterbalanced by tension springs.

You have the door up, you arrange a rope each side taking the load each spring holds and you use a pulley at each rope so you can safely raise and lower the door and hold it anywhere you want with the ropes.

With the door secured by ropes you can now remove the redundant and relaxed springs. Usually a clip, cotter or hitch pin pulled to remove a pin or link and then the spring hangs free. Not dangerous as long as there is no load on the springs as they store no potential energy.

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Great68 t1_iu6kqnx wrote

>Tracks are for rollup or torsion spring doors- tilters and floders use pivots counterbalanced by tension springs.

Nope, My garage door is on tracks and uses tension springs.

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egus t1_iu5s9ed wrote

That must be a really old way of doing it.

I've replaced several of these with the type you wind across the header and they still had tracks and rollers down the sides.

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Hodgkisl t1_iu8jbkz wrote

Roll up doors can use either type of spring, newer roll up doors which weigh more typically have torsion springs as they last longer and are considered safer during use, though more dangerous to instal.

I Have an original 1972 wood roll up with tension springs.

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singlejeff t1_iu5oxrx wrote

There was no track on our door that had springs like this

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egus t1_iu5rhe7 wrote

Yes there is. There are rollers on the sides of the panels. The rollers are contained in a tracked upright vertical and horizontal piece.

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singlejeff t1_iu5sjvc wrote

Our’s was what I think of as a single throw door, one giant panel. I grew up with it don’t tell me there were tracks.

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egus t1_iu5t2ku wrote

I believe you, I've just never seen one like that.

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