Your garage door has several different moving parts that all have to work together to open and close the door smoothly. If there’s a problem, it’s helpful to be able to tell your garage door technician which part isn’t working so they can locate the issue more quickly. Below, learn about the main parts of your overhead garage door.

What Parts Make Up a Garage Door?

1. Door Sections

Each door is made up of solid sections or panels. A swinging or tilt-up door may have only one large panel or two large doors that open to the sides. However, most modern ones use multiple door sections with joints in between. There may be many narrow horizontal slats in a roll-up door or a few wide panels connected with hinges in a sectional. This gives the door enough flexibility to roll upwards or to the side.

2. Springs

The door panels are naturally extremely heavy. Without a way to balance them out, they would slam closed with dangerous force, and would quickly wear out the motor lifting them. To fix this, modern garage doors include one or more heavy-duty steel wire springs that support the door and counteract its weight. They’re usually found along the top of the door on the inside, or running just above the track. They can have a variety of different coatings, giving them a silvery, black, or patterned appearance.

3. Lifting Cables

These are the strong cables that transfer the force of the motor to the door to open it. They’re made of several strands of steel wire twisted together. They run down the side of the door, and as they lift, they roll up into the cable drums, which are metal cylinders at the top corners. They fasten to the door by the brackets at the bottom corners of the lowest door panel. If your garage door uses springs extended along the track, there are also similar cables inside the springs.

4. Track

These tracks are thin metal railings with a lip to keep the rollers from sliding off. There are two tracks, one at each side of the door, or at the top and bottom and leading to a side wall if the door opens to the side. Rollers attached to the door run along the tracks to guide it up and down.

5. Operator

This is the motor of the door, found hanging from the ceiling behind it. It has its own track with a cable or chain running along it to raise the door. Motors are classified by the way that they transfer power from the motor to the door. There are chain-drive and belt-drive operators, as well as screw-drive models that use a screw-threaded shaft. Direct-drive ones have the chain inside a steel shaft, and jackshaft openers are mounted at the side of the door and use a cable and pulley system. Each type of operator is controlled by one or more garage door openers connected either by an electrical wire or by a radio signal.

If you need repairs or replacements for any garage door part in Flathead County, choose American Garage Door. Based in Kalispell, MT, they have ten years of experience in garage door services and offer 24-hour emergency repairs. To schedule a visit from a trained service technician, call (406) 752-2662 or visit their website.