Garage Door Repair Hugo MN › Guides › Uneven or Crooked Door
One Side of the Garage Door Is Higher Than the Other: What’s Wrong
A garage door that is crooked, uneven or has shifted to one side (one corner sagging or higher than the other) usually means the two sides of its lifting system are no longer matched: a cable that has stretched, frayed or slipped off its drum, a spring that has weakened, or a track that has loosened or bent. All three carry high tension, so this guide covers what to look at from a safe distance and what to leave alone.
Low corner often a cable on that side
Grinding or binding often a track
Never loosen bracket or drum fasteners
Sourced Genie, DASMA and Clopay
What does it mean when a garage door hangs crooked?
A sectional door is lifted by two matching systems, one on each side, and a lean means one side is doing less work than the other.
On each side, a cable runs from a bracket at the bottom corner of the door up to a drum or pulley, and the spring system carries the weight of the door through those cables. When both sides are tensioned and aligned the same way, the door travels level. When one cable has stretched, one track has shifted or one spring has lost tension, that side sits lower and the door racks toward it.
The Genie Company’s maintenance guidance describes the same check: step back from the door and see whether the parts are evenly aligned. If they are not, it says, fasteners may have come loose or cables may not be properly wound on the drums, causing misalignment. That is the manufacturer’s own description of the symptom, and it is why a crooked door is a stop-and-call problem rather than a wait-and-see one.
Three parts that can cause a lean
Could a cable be causing one side to sit lower?
Yes, and the cable does not have to snap. A cable that has stretched more than its partner can leave one corner lower.
Genie tells owners to check the cables for fraying, broken strands, wear, kinks, stretching or damage. Clopay’s manual, in its maintenance checks for extension-spring doors, asks whether the cables are running properly in the sheaves (the small pulleys) and whether the cable is worn at the bottom bracket button.
The industry standard for these cables, DASMA 110, defines a cable break as the severing of at least one strand and an endurance failure as the severing or fraying of at least one strand. It also notes that differential cable stretch, or too much cable stretch, can result in slack cables. In plain terms, one side can go slack from stretch alone, with no visible break.
DASMA’s safety guidance for owners says frayed or worn cables are in danger of breaking, which can cause injury, and that because of the high spring tension, cables should be replaced only by a trained technician. Our garage door cable repair page covers what that job involves.
Could an unevenly worn spring be the cause?
It can, mainly on doors with two springs, where one may weaken sooner than the other.
DASMA’s guidance says springs wear out and that when they break, injury can result. It also says that if your door has two springs, you should replace both, even if one is not broken. An out-of-balance spring system causes premature wear on other important door components, which is why matching the pair matters.
Genie’s inspection list for springs is to look for stretched or gapped springs, wear, slipping, cracking or fractures. It also says never to try to adjust the torsion springs or any fasteners painted red or otherwise marked for professional service only. Looking is fine; adjusting is not. If you are not sure which spring type you have, see torsion vs extension springs, and for the repair itself see garage door spring repair.
Could the track be bent or out of alignment?
Yes. A track that has loosened from its wall brackets or been bumped can let one side sag or bind.
The vertical and horizontal tracks guide the rollers on each side, and they are meant to be mirror images of each other. Clopay’s installation manual describes how squareness is checked during setup: the horizontal track is held level and square to the door, by comparing two diagonal distances and adjusting if they are not within 1/2 inch of each other. Genie’s routine inspection asks you to look for bending, creases, rust, damage and loose or missing bolts.
A track problem is more likely if the door also grinds, scrapes or binds as it travels, not only leans at rest. See garage door track repair, and if the door has come out of the track entirely, off-track door repair.
Cable, spring or track: what does the symptom usually point to?
| What you see | What it may point to | Who should handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Door sits crooked when closed; one bottom corner is higher or touches the floor first | A stretched, frayed or slipped cable on the low side | A trained technician |
| Door leans and also grinds, scrapes or binds as it travels | A bent, loose or misaligned track on that side | A technician; do not force the door |
| Two torsion springs and one looks looser or more gapped than the other | Uneven spring wear; DASMA says replace both | A trained technician |
| The lean appeared suddenly, after a loud bang | A cable or spring may have broken outright | A technician; stop using the door |
These are the usual pairings, not a diagnosis. The same lean can come from more than one problem at once, which is why an in-person check under proper tension release is worth it.
What can I check without touching the springs or cables?
Look from a safe distance, with the door closed, and touch nothing that is under tension.
- Whether one bottom corner sits higher off the floor than the other, or touches down first as the door closes.
- Whether the cables on the two sides look the same in tightness, with no visible fraying, kinks or rust.
- Whether the tracks look parallel and free of visible bends, dents or gaps at the wall brackets.
- On a two-spring door, whether both springs look similarly wound, with no gaps between coils.
Do not pull, pry or lift on the low side, and do not loosen any fastener at the bottom bracket, drum or spring anchor to try to even the door out. Clopay’s manual says springs, cables and bottom fixtures are under strong spring tension, and warns against loosening any fasteners on them because you could suddenly release spring forces and risk severe injury.
Should I keep using the door while it leans?
No. Running a door that is already unevenly loaded adds stress where the system is weakest.
If the low side is a stretched or partly frayed cable, further cycling can finish the job of breaking it. If an uneven spring is the cause, the opener and the remaining spring take up the imbalance and wear faster. Stop using the door with the opener and call for an inspection. If you need the door open in the meantime, see how to open a garage door manually first, and for a stuck door or a car trapped inside, our emergency garage door repair page explains when to call right away.
A technician works through the same three areas above, but releases spring tension first, checks spring balance with the door disconnected from the opener and measures the track rather than judging it by eye. If you can say whether the lean built up slowly or came with a bang, that helps.
Crooked door questions
Why is one side of my garage door lower than the other?
The common causes are a cable that has stretched, frayed or slipped on that side, a spring that has weakened compared with its pair, or a track that has loosened or bent. Each leaves one side lifting less than the other.
Is it safe to keep opening and closing a crooked door?
No. Cycling an unevenly loaded door adds stress to the cable, spring or track that is already compromised. Stop using the opener and have the door inspected.
Can I tighten the cable myself to level the door?
No. DASMA says cables should be replaced only by a trained technician because of the spring tension, and Clopay warns against loosening fasteners on springs, cables and bottom fixtures.
Does a bent track mean I need a new door?
Not necessarily. A track that has come loose or bent slightly can often be re-secured or replaced without replacing the door panels. A technician can tell which applies.
What if the lean came with a loud bang?
A sudden lean after a bang suggests a cable or spring may have broken outright. Do not operate the door, even by hand, until it has been inspected.
Sources
- The Genie Company, maintaining your garage door (alignment, cable, spring and track checks)
- DASMA, garage door safety tips (cables, springs, replacing both springs)
- DASMA 110-2010, lifting cables for sectional doors (failure definitions, differential cable stretch)
- Clopay, residential garage door installation and maintenance instructions (cable check, track squareness, spring-tension warning)
Chamberlain and LiftMaster document an opener fault code for an unbalanced door, but it describes vertical drift after the door reaches full open, not a static side-to-side lean, so it is not used here. No source gives a cable or spring lifespan for Minnesota conditions, so this guide does not state one. It is general information, not a substitute for your door’s manual. Sources were read in September 2026.
Door leaning to one side?
A leaning door is usually one call away from a bigger failure, and the fix involves parts under spring tension. Call and describe how the door sits; a person answers.
What to have ready
- Which corner is lower, and whether it changed slowly or suddenly
- Whether you heard a bang before the lean began
- Whether the door grinds or binds as it moves
- Whether the wall button still works
