Front Lower Drum Seal

I was getting brown spots on my clothing since I bought this used dryer. Went to partselect.com Fine with me, but not my wife and daughter! Anyway, after ruling out rust, I ended up here and found Randy's story - without it, I'd be lost! Basically, the felt seal crushes over time, and clothing gets caught in the gap stuck against this nasty old brown felt and leaves a mark.

Replacing the belt was a very good idea, though as mentioned, the drum support bearing is just a "nice to do" - not necessary, but it gives you the excuse to re-grease it (I used a thick Molly impregnated grease from my motorcycle).

The only other advice I can give is that I used a chisel to scrape off the old felt - it came off in very little time, and I didn't end up needing to really do much cleaning of the drum afterwards. Just use a sharp one you're not afraid to dull - it'll be metal-on-metal contact.

Using the spring-loaded clamps that you can get from the hardware store was also a huge help - it just needs to keep the upper glide stuck to the drum for the 30 minutes for the glue to cure - I used 6, but 3 would work. The bottom seal doesn't need them as the felt will tend to stick to the drum when the glue is applied.

You might not NEED to replace the lower seal, but I'd suggest it. It's cheap enough, and this job is "not fun" enough that it only adds a few minutes total - good insurance that you do a complete job.

You also might want to get some aluminum foil tape and re-tape your blower extension tube - mine was ripped off from moving from house to house over the years.

I felt ,if I was going to replace the top drum glide and lower basket seal, I might as well replace the belt ,bearing assembly and the idle pulley assembly and avoid having to replace these sooner than later. All of the parts showed alot of wear and the belt like all drive belts, should be changed every 5-6 years.
DISCONNECT ELECTRICITY and GAS LINES
1.popped top by pushing and prying at front /top clips about 2-3in. in from side edges. lifted it off
2. removed the front panel by removing the 2 top front screws from the inside, then the two lower screws from the front after removing the small white plastic hole covers. disconnected the multiplug electric connector top right. set panel aside.
3.remove small back panel.and loosened belt.(observe belt path and idle pulley assy.
4. lifted drum and slid it out the front.
5. using socket, removed rear plastic bearing housing and replaced the same. be careful of observing the small ball bearing and the small piece on outside back panel. replace the same. you wil probably need a second set of hands to hold the piece on the outside when screwing in the screws from the inside.
6. unscew the "bearing" from the rear of the drum and replace with new one.(the screws are self-tapping and go in HARD!!)
7. apply lubricant liberally to plastic bearing holder
8. place new belt around drum(rubber side against drum cloth side out.
9. idle pulley assy. is removed by removing spring and just sliding assy out of holder. replace with new
10. replace drum and belt
11. take front panel and remove top drum glide and lower basket seal.( i marked where the two seal/glide come together with a marker )
12. scrape and remove as much felt and possible. I then used "goo gone" to remove all the glue. clean well and using the provided high temp adhesive reattached glide and seal.
13. reassemble and enjoy your NEW? dryer

Let me start by saying that I am a stay-at-home mommy of 2-year-old twin girls so if I can do this, you can too.
1. I disconntected the dryer from the outlet.
2. Then I had to pop open the top of the dryer. I had to wedge a screwdriver underneath the top lid (towards the front corners) in order to open the top.
3. Looking into the dryer from the top I could see a few screws I needed to remove that were along the sides of the drum. After removing the screws, I was able to remove the front panel of the dryer exposing the drum.
4. The seal that I needed to repair was located on the front panel. I had to remove the old seal (I had to scrap to get some of it removed).
5. I applied the adhesive then attached the upper and lower seals.
6. I let the seals dry for a few minutes then replaced the ront panel. In replacing the panel, the seals need to fit around the drum. You need to be careful in fitting the drum so that the seals remain intact and not pushed out of place.
7. Then, I simply replaced the screws to the front panel and secured the top lid back in place.
FYI: I did have a problem with the lower seal, in placing the drum over the seals, the lower was pushed out of place without me knowing. A few days later, the dryer was making a noise and clothes were still getting caught. After opening the dryer and examining the seal, I needed to reattach the seal. I was out of the adhesive but was able to use Gorilla glue (can withstand any temperature once it is dry). Works good as new now.
FYI: I also have to add that the actual replacing of the seals did not actually take 2 hours but since the dryer was opened, I took advantage and thoroughly cleaned the inside of the dryer.

Disconnected power and vent then pulled away from wall. You will need to move the dryer away from the wall to replace the ground bearing and retaining plate and/or the dryer belt. Removed top of dryer, disconnected wiring harness' then removed the two screws that hold the front panel on the dryer. After removing the two screws, lift out and then up on the front panel. This should remove it from the retaining clips on the bottom. To remove the dryer belt, remove access panel on rear/ bottom left of dryer. Just inside the panel you will see a tension pulley held by a spring. Use your hands to relieve the tension on the belt and remove the belt from the bottom pulleys. Now go to the side of the dryer and attempt to lift up on the front and back of the drum to remove it from the rear bearing guide. There is a slot that it rides in and it only needs to come up about an inch or so. If you cannot get the the rear bearing free this way, you will have to get inside the drum and remove the three screws in the back of the drum. There are two sets of screws, remove the inside circle of screws. At this point, the drum should slide out the front of the dryer. Use aSharpie to mark the center of the top guide on the metal then use a chisel or putty knife to remove the old guides from the front panel of the dryer. You probably won't be able to remove all of the old glue, but make sure you remove all of the old felt. Lay the panel front down and apply glue to the new top guide. Line up center of top guide with the mark you made earlier. Clamp in place. I used several spring clamps, but clothes pins will work. Now put glue on the bottom guide and clamp it in place. The bevel on the bottom guide will point to the back of the dryer. Now, while your dryer is disassembled and the glue is drying CLEAN IT OUT!!! You'll have no better opportunity to thoroughly clean this thing. Remove old bearing guide from the back of the dryer and replace with the new one. This will include the new grounding bearing and retaining plate. Apply high temp grease (generously) to the new bearing guide. Remove old rear drum bearing from drum and install new one. Take old belt off drum and put new one on. Place drum back in dryer cabinet. Be sure new belt doesn't snag or hang on anything. Guide the new rear drum bearing into the groove on the top of the guide and push down into place. It should be a snap ;-). GO to back of dryer and reinstall new dryer belt around pulleys. I put a little of the high temp grease on the guide pulley shaft on the tensioner. Replace access panel. Reinstall front panel by placing bottom back into the two retaining clips and then use your free hand to lift up the drum and guide it into place around the new guides while pushing the top of the panel into place. Replace top screws in front panel and reconnect wiring harness'. Replace top of dryer, slide dryer into place and reattach vent. Hope thos helps someone. It really wasn't very hard.

I followed others suggestions with numbered steps and listened to others suggestions about replacing other parts while in the dryer. I took the dryer apart and cleaned it out well. I used acetone to remove the glue from the felt and Drum Glide at the top of the Drum. It worked much better than Goo Gone. By doing the clean up and evaluation one day, I ordered all the parts that I saw were worn or difficult to get to. I replaced the Heating Element only because the old one was very brittle and to get to it again would be difficult. Also, I followed other's advice to photograph the parts before removing. It was easy to remember how things went if I had a photo to refer to.

When the parts arrived it only took about 30 minutes to install them all because the glue removal, lint removal, and parts removal had been done another day. I should add that I am a 66 year old woman and found the job quite simple. Excellent web site. Thanks to others for the step-by-step instructions. Oh, to hold the Drum Glide and felt in place while the glue cured, clothes pins work great. I let the glue cure overnight to make sure that it was really secure.

watch the video first very helpful, was a lot easier than I thought.Dryer was pretty old but I figured what the heck.I replaced front lower basket seal,drum glide,dryer seal,belt,and bearing.Worst part was removing old top and bottom basket seals, a lot of elbow grease.I wouldn't have attempted it if not for the video. Dryer works great thanks partslect I will deffinitly shop here again very pleased, hope to get a few more years out of it.

First use a vacum to remove all the dust and lint inside the dryer fraim

Some problims removing old rear drum bearing assembly. Also removing old drum guide bottom Adhesive.
I used a new wire brush, but if I had a brush that fit a drill this would have been better to remove the adhesive.

I then applied the Glue, drum seal and small clamps to hold in place so the glue could dry overnight the next day 30 mins and the dryer was back togeather.

Removed dryer front, unscrewed 3 screws in center hub, replaced bearing assembly. Removed old basket seal with razor scraper, cleaned surface with mineral spirits, applied new basket seal. Replaced dryer front and project was done. Dryer has no more sqeaks.

I first watched the video. Had I not done that, I probably would have started looking for a new dryer. The repair is simple and I feel like now I could repair just about anything on the dryer.

Unplug dryer (gotta say it). Remove the two screws that hold in the lint catch. Remove top of dryer (two screws in back hold brackets, the front snaps on). remove two screws along the front edge to take front panel off the dryer (there are also clips). Unhook the two electrical connectors that control the door shut off. Once the front is off, remove the old glide and felt and install the new parts. Be sure not to step on the tube of contact cement, making it explode inside the bag. That sucked. Reassemble.

The disassembly was very easy and it appeared that this would be a very quick repair. But the removal of the old felt was difficult and once it was removed it took a lot of effort to remove the bits still stuck on. The tool of choice to remove the stuck on felt was a small torch. After that use a coarse sand paper to remove the remnants. Glue on the new felt and reinstall the front panel.

Took apart the dryer, definitely a two person job. Cleaned up a bag full of lint that collected in the dryer (can't believe it didn't start a fire!), removed the old glides and seals, sandpapered off the old adhesive, applied fresh adhesive, attached the glide and seals, waited for the adhesive to dry, reassembled the dryer. Now it's working like a charm!

Follwed all the other comments real easy

First unplugged the dryer took off the top. Removed the 2 screws holding the front panel on. Scraped and cleaned old drum glide and lower basket seal. glued new seals on replaced lightbulb while I had it apart then reassembled. It was an easy job and the wife is now happy again.. Thanks to Partselect.
Mike

disconnected power unlocked both top sides ,lift top back and take top 2 screws out, then unhooked wiring,then remove whole front away from drum.scrap off all the remaining pieces, then glue and wait till tacky, then apply
front lower basket seal and top drum glide seal,replace the front ,hook wires back to proper place , put the two top screw back on!!! happy drying!!!