Type Guide · Updated 14 November 2026
Garage Door
Spring Types Guide
Five kinds of spring cover almost every door. Knowing which one you have tells you what the part costs, how long it is rated to last, and what a fair quote looks like. Prices below are for the spring alone; installed costs are on the door type page.
Standard Torsion Springs
The most common type. Mounted above the door on a metal shaft, it twists to lift the door. Most doors have two.
$35.38 to $157.94 per spring
Designed around a minimum of about 10,000 cycles (DDM Garage Doors)
Modern sectional and roll-up doors (Yelp)
High-Cycle Torsion Springs
Thicker, longer wire for the same lift, so the spring reaches its cycle rating later. Sized to the door like any other torsion spring.
$27 to $56 more per pair than standard
27,000 or 54,000 cycles in DDM's example (about 7.4 or 14.8 years at 10 cycles a day)
Doors used as the main entrance
Extension Springs
Mounted along each horizontal track; they stretch to lift the door. Each needs a safety cable through it (DASMA).
$29.92 to $72.90 per spring
10,000 cycles (Prime-Line); no high-cycle grade listed
Older one-piece tilt-up doors (Yelp)
Wayne Dalton TorqueMaster
A proprietary torsion system with the spring inside the shaft tube. Replacement springs are specific to the system.
$60.00 to $70.00 per spring
No cycle rating published by the seller we checked
Wayne Dalton doors with the enclosed tube
Commercial Torsion Springs
Larger inside diameter and heavier wire than residential springs. Commercial jobs are priced on site.
$172.49 to $332.35 per spring
Rated to the door; no single figure
Heavy commercial sectional doors
How we price this: Our ranges are estimates built from published inputs, not quotes: retail spring prices, the service-call and hourly rates in Yelp's cost guide, and job times from HomeAdvisor and Yelp. Low ends are rounded down and high ends up to the nearest $5. Sources, read 13 October 2026: DDM Garage Doors, DIY Garage Door Parts, DDM Garage Doors, high-cycle springs, DIY Garage Door Parts, extension springs, Yelp cost guide, HomeAdvisor and DASMA, Safety Tips for Garage Doors. HomeAdvisor and Angi are both owned by Angi Inc., which pays this site a commission for quote requests. (Angi Inc. 2025 Form 10-K)
Show the arithmetic
- Standard torsion spring, part only (per spring; quoted; includes parts): $35.38 to $157.94. Lowest listing at DDM Garage Doors ($35.38) to highest at DIY Garage Door Parts ($157.94, sold with cables and winding bars). DDM's residential range is $35.38 to $87.91; DIY Garage Door Parts' is $75.25 to $157.94.
- Extra parts cost of a high-cycle pair (pair; quoted; includes parts): $27 to $56. DDM's prices for one 150 lb door: $83.10 (27,000 cycles) minus $56.56 (10,000 cycles) = $26.54; $112.38 (54,000 cycles) minus $56.56 = $55.82. Parts only, at retail; labor is the same job.
- Extension spring, part only (per spring; quoted; includes parts): $29.92 to $72.90. DIY Garage Door Parts, springs for 7 ft doors rated 100 lb ($29.92) to 200 lb ($72.90).
- Wayne Dalton TorqueMaster spring, part only (per spring; quoted; includes parts): $60 to $70. DDM Garage Doors lists 84 TorqueMaster springs at $60.00 to $70.00.
- Commercial torsion spring, part only (per spring; quoted; includes parts): $172.49 to $332.35. DDM Garage Doors lists three commercial torsion spring sizes at $172.49 to $332.35.
- Pair of torsion springs replaced (pair; estimate from stated inputs; includes parts, labor, service call): $145 to $520. parts 2 x $35.38 to 2 x $157.94, plus labor $75 to $200 (a $75 to $100 service call covering the first hour, plus up to one more hour at $100): $145.76 to $515.88, rounded out to the nearest $5.
- Pair of high-cycle torsion springs replaced (pair; estimate from stated inputs; includes parts, labor, service call): $170 to $575. standard torsion pair $145.76 to $515.88, plus the high-cycle parts premium $26.54 to $55.82: $172.30 to $571.70, rounded out to the nearest $5.
Parts are priced at what the two suppliers charge the public. Installers buy for less and many mark parts up, and neither figure is published, so a quote's parts line can be higher than ours.
Wage check: The BLS puts the median mechanical door repairer (the occupation that includes garage door mechanics) at $26.79 an hour (May 2025). Wages are 70.0% of private-industry employer costs (June 2026), so that technician costs an employer about $38.27 an hour before the van, insurance, overhead and profit. Yelp's $40 to $100 hourly rate sits at or above that cost, which is what a billed rate should do. (BLS OEWS, 49-9011 Mechanical Door Repairers; BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation)
How to Identify Your Spring Type
Look at the area above the door from inside the garage, without operating the door if a spring may be broken:
- Springs wound around a shaft above the door = Torsion springs
- Long springs along the horizontal tracks = Extension springs
- Springs enclosed inside a tube/shaft = Wayne Dalton TorqueMaster
- Spring inside a barrel above a roll-up door = Rolling door spring (commercial; priced on site)
If you are unsure, send a photo when you call for a quote, so the technician arrives with the right parts. At the standard grade both are rated about 10,000 cycles: DDM Garage Doors for torsion springs, Prime-Line for extension springs.
Our Recommendation
Best value: for most residential doors, a standard torsion pair, $145 to $520 installed on our estimate. If the garage is your main entrance, ask for a high-cycle pair as well: in DDM's example it adds $27 to $56 in parts for 2.7 to 5.4 times the rated cycles.
Common Questions
What are the different types of garage door springs?
Five, by price per spring at the parts suppliers we checked: standard torsion springs ($35.38 to $157.94), high-cycle torsion springs ($27 to $56 more per pair than standard in DDM's example), extension springs ($29.92 to $72.90 for 7 ft doors of 100 to 200 lb), Wayne Dalton TorqueMaster springs ($60.00 to $70.00) and commercial torsion springs ($172.49 to $332.35). Installed, a standard torsion pair is $145 to $520 on our estimate.
Are high-cycle springs worth the extra cost?
If the garage is your main way in, usually yes. In DDM Garage Doors' example for a 150 lb door, a 27,000-cycle or 54,000-cycle pair costs $27 to $56 more than a 10,000-cycle pair, and at 10 cycles a day reaches its rating in about 7.4 or 14.8 years instead of about 2.7. The labor is the same job, so on our estimate a high-cycle pair costs $170 to $575 installed against $145 to $520 for standard springs.