2026-03-28 7 min read
If you've lived in Coulee City for more than one winter, you already know what the cold here actually means. We're not talking about Seattle drizzle. We're talking about December nights where temperatures routinely drop into the low 20s°F. sometimes dipping below that. followed by afternoons that climb back toward freezing. Then the next morning, it drops again. That daily cycle is brutal on a lot of things, and your garage door springs are no exception.
Coulee City sits in Grant County at the southern end of Banks Lake, and the climate here is firmly high-desert eastern Washington. Winters are cold and dry, summers push close to 85°F, and the shoulder seasons bring the kind of wild temperature swings that put mechanical systems through their paces. If you want to understand what's happening to your torsion springs between November and March, that thermal cycle is the place to start.
Torsion springs are made from hardened steel wire wound tightly under constant tension. Every time your garage door opens or closes, that spring twists and releases stored energy. That repetitive motion causes what engineers call cycle fatigue. microscopic cracks that form in the metal over time.
Now add the cold. Steel contracts when temperatures drop, which means the spring becomes slightly more brittle and less flexible. When a door that weighs 150 to 300 pounds needs to be lifted on a 22°F morning, those already-fatigued coils are under maximum stress at exactly the moment they're most vulnerable.
What most homeowners don't realize is that it's not a single cold snap that kills a spring. it's the accumulation of stress from months of repeated expansion and contraction. By late February or early March, after a full winter of those cycles, even a spring that felt fine in October can be near its breaking point. One cold morning, you press the button, hear a loud bang, and the door won't move.
Here in the Coulee City area. and over in Grand Coulee and Electric City. we don't get a steady, sustained deep freeze the way some northern climates do. Instead, we get temperature swings that can range 25°F or more within a single day. That constant back-and-forth forces the metal to expand and contract repeatedly, and each cycle creates a little more micro-damage in the coil. Springs are engineered to handle cold. What they struggle with is the relentless cycling.
Most standard builder-grade torsion springs are rated for around 10,000 cycles. For a household that uses the garage as the main entry point. which is most of us out here, given how much time we spend outside. that lifespan can shrink significantly. If your springs are more than seven years old and you haven't had them inspected, now is a good time.
Don't wait for the loud bang. Your springs will usually tell you something is wrong before they fail completely. Here's what to look for:
- The door feels heavier than usual when you try to lift it manually. Springs counterbalance the door's weight; if they're losing tension, you feel every pound. - Uneven opening. one side of the door rises higher than the other, indicating one spring is weaker than its partner. - Slow or hesitant movement at the start of the lift, or inconsistent speed as the door travels up. - Creaking or popping sounds during operation. That's metal stress, not just normal noise. - A visible gap in the spring coil. if you can see a separation in the tightly wound coil, the spring has already broken.
If you notice any of these, stop using the door and reach out to schedule an inspection. Continuing to run a struggling door puts enormous strain on your opener motor and can turn a spring replacement into a much more expensive repair.
You can't stop metal fatigue, but you can slow it down and catch problems before they strand you in your driveway on a cold morning.
Lubricate your springs seasonally. A light application of a silicone-based or lithium-based garage door lubricant on the coils helps reduce friction and slows surface corrosion. Don't use WD-40. it's a solvent, not a lubricant, and it can actually dry out the metal over time. This is one of the key steps covered in our chain maintenance and moving-parts guide, and the same principle applies to springs.
Test your door's balance. Disconnect the opener and lift the door manually to about waist height. Let go. A properly balanced door will stay roughly in place. If it falls or shoots up, the spring tension is off and the system needs adjustment.
Know your spring's age. If you bought your home without knowing the service history, check for a sticker on the spring or the motor unit that may indicate installation date. If there's no record and the door is more than eight years old, assume the springs are due for an evaluation.
Consider upgrading to high-cycle springs. If you're replacing springs anyway, ask about springs rated for 25,000 or more cycles. For a home where the garage is used multiple times a day, the upgrade cost is minimal compared to the extended lifespan. especially in a climate like ours that stresses the metal every winter.
This one isn't a sales pitch. it's a safety issue. Torsion springs operate under extreme tension, often bearing over 200 pounds of force per coil. When a spring releases unexpectedly, the energy discharge is fast and violent. Professional technicians use specialized winding bars and follow strict safety procedures for a reason. This is not a job for a YouTube tutorial and a socket set.
If a spring breaks, view our full services to understand what a proper replacement involves. it typically includes checking the cables, drums, and hardware while the system is already open, which can catch other worn parts before they become their own emergency.
Q: My garage door still opens. do I really need to worry about the springs? A: Yes. A door that opens with failing springs is putting enormous strain on your opener motor, which isn't designed to do the heavy lifting. The spring does most of the work; the motor just guides the door. Ignoring a weakening spring often means replacing both the spring and the opener instead of just the spring.
Q: Should I replace both springs even if only one broke? A: Generally, yes. If one spring has reached the end of its service life, the other one is likely close behind. they've experienced the same number of cycles and the same winters. Replacing both at once keeps the door balanced and saves you from a second service call a few months later.
Q: How do I know if my spring is a torsion spring or an extension spring? A: Torsion springs are mounted horizontally above the door on a metal shaft. Extension springs run along the sides of the door tracks and stretch when the door closes. Older homes sometimes use extension springs; most modern installs use torsion. Either type can fail, and both require professional replacement.