How to Measure Garage Door Springs

Your garage door spring has a specific wire size. Most residential springs come in one of the following. Each one is describing the width of an individual coil, and is represented as a fraction of one inch in decimal form.

0.192"

0.207"

0.218"

0.225"

0.234"

0.243"

0.250"

0.262"

0.273"

As covered in the video above, first count and mark 20 individual coils. Then measure the length of the 20 coils. You will need to know the EXACT length down to the 1/16" mark. Using this measurement, you can convert to the spring wire size. The first number is the measurement you took of 20 coils. The corresponding number is your spring's wire size.

3 7/8" - 0.192

4 1/8" - 0.207

4 3/8" - 0.218

4 1/2" - 0.225

4 11/16" - 0.234

4 7/8" - 0.243

5" - 0.250

5 1/4" - 0.262

5 1/2" - 0.273

The vast majority of residential springs are 2" inside diameters, so this should be an easy number to get. However, there are some springs that are 1 3/4". One method is to look at the center cone (end of spring near center of garage) and look for an embossed number. If you see 175 or 134 somewhere, you have a 1 3/4" inside diamter. If you see a 2, 200, or even 2000, it's a 2". You can also take the broken spring off the torsion tube and simply measure the diameter of the space inside of the spring "tube" (as in, the tube shape created by looking into a spring).

The spring length refers to the length of the coils only. It does not include the fittings on either end of the garage spring (cones). To get this number, simply measure the length from the start of the first coil to the end of the last one.

Note: The length you measure may be 0.5"-1" longer than the actual spring length due to gaps created when the cones are added on. Use your best judgement to determine whether to deduct 0.5" or 1". This small difference should not cause any noticeable effects on garage door function, so don't stress about being 100% correct.