The washing machine was purchased in 2005 and this was the first time that the bearings had failed. My wife and I initially were going to purchase a new one considering the labor for the appliance repair company to do the replacement. However, I felt being a technical person that I could handle the task so I watched some videos on YouTube and purchased the replacement bearings along with the seal that goes over the inner bearing. When I started the disassembly I carefully documented the steps, took pictures and labeled the parts (especially screws) as they were removed. The last step in the process was removing the bearings from the back end of the tub and I was able to remove the inner housing and bearing balls, but despite all the WD-40 the outer housing would not dislodge from the tub. I admit that the videos on YouTube did mention that it would not be an easy task and would require effort, but for whatever reason the outer bearing housings would not come loose. At this point I searched for a replacement tub and found one with the bearings and seal from www.appliancepartspros.com. I called to confirm that I was ordering the correct part and it was shipped within two days for a very reasonable price. Once I received it, I was able to easily reassemble the washing machine back together since I had taken great effort to document and organize the parts. I did a test run once it was reassembled and it has worked as it should.
I admit that this repair is not an easy task when being done for the first time. However, using YouTube, taking pictures, recording the steps and carefully documenting the repair process that it can be undertaken and easily save you $1000 not having to purchase a new machine. One recommendation I have is that it just may be worth it to purchase the back end of the tub with the replacement bearings already installed to eliminate the most difficult (and possibly impossible) step of removing the inner and outer bearings.