Quick answerIf a garage door cable snapped or slipped off its drum, the door is now hanging on one side and is not safe to operate — don't run the opener and don't try to lift it. Cables fail for three reasons: wear and rust at the bottom bracket, a broken spring that let the cable go slack, or something obstructing the door so one side kept moving. Cable replacement runs $150–$300 for both cables; cable plus worn drums is $225–$400. If a spring broke too, that's a separate $360–$475 repair.
A cable failure looks dramatic — the door sits crooked, one corner jammed up, a cable dangling — and it almost always happens with the car inside. Here's what actually happened, what to do right now, and what the repair involves.
What the cables do
Each side of the door has a steel lift cable running from the bottom bracket up to a drum on the torsion shaft above the door. The springs turn the shaft, the drums wind the cables, and the cables lift the door. Both cables have to move exactly together for the door to stay level in the tracks. When one goes slack or breaks, the other side keeps lifting, the door twists, and the rollers on the loose side jam in the track. That's the crooked door you're looking at.
Why cables snap or come off
Wear and corrosion
Cables fray at the bottom bracket, where they bend the sharpest and sit closest to water and salt. Arkansas humidity rusts the strands from the inside. A cable that looks fine from ten feet can be down to half its strands at the bracket. This is why we inspect cables on every visit — they are cheap to replace before they fail and expensive after.
A broken spring
When a spring breaks, tension on the shaft disappears and the cables unwind off the drums. People often notice the cable and miss the spring. If the door is crooked and extremely heavy, both failed, and the repair is springs plus cables.
Obstruction
The door comes down on the bumper, a bike, a trash can, or ice. One side stops, the other side keeps going, the cable on the stopped side goes slack and jumps the drum. The cable itself is usually fine here; it needs to be rewound and the door re-leveled, and whatever is bent needs attention. Common in the first freeze — see cold-weather problems.
Worn drums or bearings
Grooved drums cut into the cable; a seized end bearing lets the shaft flex. Replacing cables on worn drums just means new cables fail early, so we quote drums with the cables when they're grooved.
What to do right now
- Stop operating the door. Unplug the opener so nobody presses a remote.
- Don't try to level it or lift it. The remaining cable and spring are holding an unbalanced door. Springs under tension plus a jammed door is how fingers and hands get hurt.
- Keep people and pets out from under it.
- If the door is open and won't close, call us as an emergency — we'll secure the house the same day.
- Take a photo of the crooked door and the cable if you want to send it ahead; it helps us bring the right parts.
The repair
| Job | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cable replacement (both cables) | $150 – $300 | 7x19 aircraft-grade cable. Always both sides. |
| Cable + drum replacement | $225 – $400 | When drums are grooved or worn. |
| Off-track door re-seating | $195 – $280 | Includes finding and fixing the root cause. |
| Add torsion springs (pair) | $360 – $475 | If a spring broke and let the cable go. |
All flat-rate, quoted before work starts, from our pricing guide, with a 3-year parts warranty. Most cable calls are finished within an hour of arrival. Details on the cable repair page.
Preventing the next one
- Have cables inspected at the bottom bracket every year — it's on our tune-up checklist.
- Keep the door's path clear and the bottom seal in good shape so the door never lands on something.
- Replace springs when they reach the end of their cycle life rather than after they break; a snapped spring is the number one cause of a thrown cable.
- If the door has ever come off track, have the tracks checked — a slightly bent track keeps re-creating the problem.
Cable and off-track calls are same-day across Little Rock, North Little Rock, Conway, Benton, Bryant, Maumelle, Jacksonville and the rest of Central Arkansas. Call (501) 244-3667.
Frequently asked questions
Not safely. The cable can only be rewound with the spring tension released and then re-applied with winding bars, and the door has to be re-leveled while the spring is loaded. It's a fast job for a technician and a serious injury risk otherwise.
They were installed together and have the same wear. The second one is close behind, and a second failure means a second trip charge. Both cables together are $150–$300.
Yes, because the door is unbalanced and can shift or drop. Even when the cable just jumped the drum after hitting something, the door needs to be re-leveled before it's used, and the reason it jumped needs fixing.
Look at the spring above the door for a gap in the coils, and note whether the door feels far heavier than usual. A loud bang from the garage before you found the crooked door is the other giveaway. Either way, don't lift it — tell us what you see and we'll bring both parts.
