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The third-car garage door on my recently-built house seems to have a bracket loose. The bracket in question is one that seems to go around the torsion spring and screws to the door frame header - it looks as though the builders just missed the bracket's position when they added 2x4s to attach the bracket.

Picture for reference:

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My question is whether or not this is something I can address myself. It is as straightforward as putting another 2x4 in there and screwing the bracket to it? Does the bracket have some influence on the torsion spring, such that I need to have it professionally taken care of? I know that garage door springs are dangerous if not treated with care, and I don't want to get into something I'm not qualified to tackle.

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    Chances are you can simply slide that bearing into alignment with the backing lumber and fasten it there. Otherwise, add a block.
    – isherwood
    Commented Nov 21, 2018 at 19:47
  • I did think about that also because it would be centered with the hinges but figured it was fixed. If not fixed no block would be needed.+
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Nov 21, 2018 at 20:09

3 Answers 3

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Perhaps they left it unattached because there is no automatic door opener installed and they they assumed that it would be taken care of when one is installed.

It should be secured to keep the bar from flexing in the middle due to the high amount of torque in the springs.

You can attach a piece of wood of the appropriate thickness to the header with 3" screws and secure the bracket to it with 3/8 x 2 1/2" lag bolts.

If you are going to get a door opener in near future you could wait and see if the opener hardware will dictate the placement of it.

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  • The main stall door has its bracket attached, though, and it didn't have a garage door opener installed either. When I installed that opener, the instructions said only to place the mounting bracket for the rail some set distance above the spring bracket.
    – Chris M.
    Commented Nov 21, 2018 at 19:45
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I would add a 2x4 or whatever thickness is needed under the bracket then lag screw the bracket to the 2x4. If the spacer ends up being thinner I would use a longer lag bolt to tie into the header. This will add support to the shaft and reduce wear on the end bearings and possibly the spring, extending the life.

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On a double wide door, the bearing wants to be in the middle (ish), but the opener needs to be in the middle (for balance) and apparatus may also be off center. It's reasonable to not attach it until the opener's location is known.

Mind you, the opener should never act on that rod directly, because that needs to be exactly a 1:1 tug of war between door and spring. Forcibly unwinding it would only unwind the cable off the drum, making it implode into a rat's nest and making the door drop violently. I have seen tall 20' doors violently defenestrate from that.

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