Garage Door Struts: What They Do and When You Need Them
Garage door struts are horizontal bars fixed across a door panel to keep it stiff. They help a wide or light door stay flat when the opener pulls on it. If your top panel bends or cracks near the opener arm a strut may help. A damaged panel may need more than a strut.
What a strut does
A garage door is a stack of thin panels. The opener pushes and pulls on the top one. Without support that panel can flex. A strut spreads the force along the width of the door so the metal does not bend.
Most struts are made of steel angle or a flat bar. They attach with screws or bolts along the inside of a panel.
Signs a door may need one
- The top panel curves or sags in the middle
- A crack or crease forms near the opener bracket
- A wide door shakes or flexes as it moves
- The door is a lightweight steel type with no built in reinforcement
Two car doors are more prone to flexing than single doors. Our guide to standard garage door sizes shows how wide these doors get.
Struts and door material
Some doors already have strong panels or a built in reinforcement. Adding a strut gives less benefit there. Thin steel and some wood or fiberglass doors gain more. Our garage door materials guide explains how each type behaves.
When a strut is not enough
A strut helps a flexing panel. It does not repair a deep crack or a torn hinge area. Check the hinges too. Signs of hinge wear can look like a panel problem. If the panel is damaged our garage door panel repair page explains the options. If many panels are damaged a new door may make more sense. See new garage door installation.
Safety
Do not add a strut to a door that is out of balance. Fix the spring first. A balance problem makes the opener pull harder and can damage the top panel again.
Panel bending or cracking?
Call or send a message with a photo of the top panel and the opener bracket.