Torsion springs are a mainstay of overhead garage doors. Most homeowners have at least a passing knowledge of what they are and what they do. They know that the torsion spring sits above the door parallel to it and lifts and lowers the door by uncoiling and coiling respectively. They also know that torsion springs store massive amounts of energy when coiled and thus are extremely dangerous to work with and around. But what most homeowners aren’t aware of is that there are two main types of torsion springs, oil tempered and zinc galvanized, and that both have their advantages and disadvantages. In this post we’ll compare the different types of garage springs.
Once you are familiar with the types of springs, we can decide whether or not you want a single spring system of a two-spring system
Many garage doors use extension springs instead of torsion springs. Click the 'Torsion springs' link above to see the difference.
It can be useful to know about the different types of torsion springs. So below we’ll introduce you to the advantages and disadvantages of both; oil tempered springs first.