After using a garage door for 10 years, you’ll face some challenges opening it. The garage door jerking might be noteworthy. It prevents your door from smooth opening & closing; this problem might damage the entire garage door opener within a few weeks.

Therefore, if you ever notice the garage door jerks when opening, you must check the opener. There might be dust & debris that clog the spring. Or the door’s extension spring is broken. In that case, the five best ways are there to fix jerking garage doors.

Today, I’ll go through all the available fixing ways to sort out the jerking door problems. Apart from that, the reasons will be explained thoroughly, so you’ll get the best solutions accordingly.

You may also need to know about the garage door corner issues & their solutions. I also talked about them in that article. Give it a read. 

5 Best Ways to Fix Garage Door Jerks When Opening

So, you’ve got a jerking garage door and need the solutions. And there are the five best ways to fix garage door jerking problems at the opening.

Let’s see how you’ll deal with that damaged door from this video.

Apply Grease to Ease Garage Door

First thing first, lubricating the garage door should be the first way of fixing any jerking door. Most garage doors jerk to opening because of improper lubrication or rough opener.

In such cases, applying some grease might be the easiest & quickest solution. Using grease on the opener and the entire garage door parts will be smooth and decrease jerking over time. So, lubricating your garage door opener should be your first consideration. 

Repair or Change Extension Spring

The extension spring of the garage door helps you open & close the door smoothly. It gets damaged or broken for some reason (especially for overuse or careless use). And you get a jerking garage door.

If that happens, you must repair or replace the broken extension spring soon. Repairing might be worthless since it takes more time & effort than replacing it with a new one. 

Perfectly Position the Cables

Often, the cable positions might interrupt your garage door when opening. If they are in the wrong ways, or any of the cables got damaged or misplaced, it’ll not allow the door to close or open smoothly as before. This happens with the old wires.

Once you have such poor or damaged cables over the garage door, you must remove and place them correctly. In that case, repairing the broken or cut wires might sort out the jerking door problems. If they fail to sort out the problems, go through the next step. 

Clean & Remove the Clogs

Here comes the most common reason for getting a jerking garage door. Using the same opener for a long time gets a lot of dust & debris. They’ll eventually create clogs in the opener or springs.

Therefore, cleaning would be the ultimate solution to such a problem. You should regularly clean the garage door once every week to remove the dust & eliminate clogs. Remarkably, the spring and opener must be rid of dust to give you a smooth opening experience. 

Replace Damaged Part

Last but not least, replacing the damaged spring tracks would be your last way to solve the jerking door problem. In this stage, you will look for the damaged or broken spring or anything that forces the door to jerk at opening or closing.

After getting the culprit part, you should go for a replacement. Never try to repair the spring if it is already broken.

Reasons to Get A Jerky Garage Door

There are three main reasons to get a jerky garage door. Bent tracks and bad rollers are very common, rather than errors in garage door openers. 

Let’s see how they create that problem.

Bent Tracks

The garage door must have tracks that allow the door to open & close accordingly. The tracks might be bent or clogged for sand, dirt, and other reasons. 

In such a case, you will start to get a jerky garage door at opening or closing.

Bad Rollers

Rollers are responsible for the smooth opening of the garage door. But they also get damaged due to overuse and misplacement of cables and damaged shafts. If they fail to move smoothly, they will jerk the garage door when opening.

Errors in Garage Door Opener

Finally, the garage door opener errors also give you a jerking door. It may need more power to open smoothly or block remote signals. If that happens, your garage door won’t open smoothly & give you a jerking door.  

Besides sorting out the jerky garage door problem, I also wrote about the garage door from inside house issues here. Go through it in order to link your jerking door problems with that of the inside house.

Frequently Asked Questions

01. Why Does My Garage Door Jerk in Opening?

Your garage door is jerking in the opening because of dust, sand, and other debris. Even a broken spring or rollers can jerk in the opening. Additionally, bent tracks might be another reason to get a jerking garage door.  

02. What’s the Best Solution for Garage Door Jerking?

Regular cleaning & replacing the damaged rollers or springs might be the best solution for the garage door jerking problem. It’d be better to identify the damaged part & replace that soon.

03. Can I Repair My Jerking Garage Door?

Yes, you can repair your jerking garage door if you know why it happens. Identifying the reason and repairing the damaged or culprit part would be your ultimate solution. However, repairing might be challenging or costly if you got a broken garage door.

04. When Should I Replace My Garage Door?

You should change the garage door after 10 to 15 years of use. That’s the ultimate lifespan of every modern or updated automatic garage door. Sometimes, depending on its condition, you might need to replace the existing garage door before or after that time.

Closing Words

So, you’ve got the five best solutions for the garage door jerking when opening. They all are the proven & practical solutions for any jerking door, whether automated or manual. 

I also talked about the three common reasons for getting a jerking door. If you identify the reasons, it’ll be easier to sort them out by following the five best-fixing ways.