Broken Garage Cable for Older Garage Door (Pics attached)


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Old 01-08-17, 01:27 PM
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Broken Garage Cable for Older Garage Door (Pics attached)

Hi All,

The cable for one of my garage doors snapped the other day. I figured it would be easy enough to replace, so I bought a replacement from Menards yesterday.

When I went to replace the cable this afternoon, I noticed that BOTH ends of my old cable have a loop at the end. One end fits over an "S" hook and the other end fits over a metal bolt at the bottom of the garage door. The new cable I bought from Menards has a loop at one end, but no loop on the other end.

No clue how old my garage door is, but I sure don't want to buy a new door when all I need to do is replace an inexpensive cable.

Any suggestions on where I might be able to purchase a cable with loops at both ends? My garage door is 7' high by 9' wide.

Thanks in advance!

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Old 01-08-17, 01:42 PM
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You can usually get a cable end swaged at a boatyard for a couple of bucks.
 
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Old 01-08-17, 02:05 PM
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You may be able to make the cable custom fit by using a thimble or just the bolt clamps and just loop the cable over the keepers. Crown Bolt 1/8 in. Wire Rope Thimble (2-Pack)-55114 - The Home Depot

OR http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-...3254/205887928
 
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Old 01-08-17, 02:16 PM
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The ones I am most familiar with have a loop on one end only. The end without a loop is laced into the top angle at the door, such that the tension on both sides is equal. While you are at it, you may want to include safety cables through the springs as well, in case you don't already have them.
 
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Old 01-08-17, 02:25 PM
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I don't like/use the thimble/bolt clamp setup. I have had them slip. The product info for the ones link states that they are not to be used for overhead lifting.
 
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Old 01-09-17, 04:46 AM
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Good point CW. I like the crimp sleeves better anyway, as it appears to be similar to the ones used originally, and the looped end will slip over the nib on the door better.
 
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Old 01-09-17, 09:30 AM
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I think the problem with the clamp type is that the squeeze changes with time and temperature.

Years ago we used lifting clamps that had 5/8" bolts that were torqued to achieve certain level of clamping force. They were rated at several tons. We used them for years without a problem until one day one of the devices slipped. Fortunately no one was killed. We did an engineering evaluation and discovered that temperature changes had a huge effect on their clamping force.
 
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Old 01-09-17, 11:38 AM
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Thanks for all your suggestions! I just got off the phone with the owner a local boatyard. He told me they no longer swage cables like they used to.

He recommended doing something like what chandler said, except he told me to use 4 or 5 cable u-bolts, similar to what you see here.

https://vikiwat.com/userfiles/produc...arge_51469.jpg

His only additional recommendation was to take the very end of the cable and wrap it back through the last u-bolt.

It still slightly concerns me that time and temperature changes might affect the torque on the u-bolts, but I really don't have the money right now to buy a new garage door.

Thanks again for your suggestions. I'll post a pic of the finished cable next weekend.
 
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Old 02-04-17, 02:37 PM
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A hardware store should have the aluminum cable clamps like your original, usually in the part of the store where they have chains, rope and cords and such. You can crimp on with a pair of vice grips, and it will be just like the original. Here is an amazon link to show you what I mean.

https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Crim...ds=cable+crimp
 
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Old 10-19-17, 07:23 PM
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Talking

Nine months later and I finally got around to repairing my garage door today. All this time I've only had ONE cable on the garage door, rather than two. Figured with winter just around the corner I should maybe fix the thing. Went down to the local hardware store and bought two cable clamps like flatcrank had suggested (they cost me 25 cents each).

I wasn't able to crimp the clamps onto the cables with my vice grips, so I used my bench vice. Since there were two cables in the package I bought from Menards, I went ahead and replaced both cables. Worked like a charm!

Thanks again, for all the suggestions!
 
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