Our LG “Tromm” washer (a.k.a. “Trommy Baby”) started making a horrible whirring racket a couple weeks ago--especially during the spin cycle. My husband called a repairman who said the bearings were shot; it would be 2 weeks in the shop and about $700 for parts and labor. “Might as well buy a new one”, he suggested.
After showing the repairman the door, I was told the bad news. “Only eight years old and Trommy Baby’s ready for the scrap heap? No way! Someone on the internet knows how to fix this thing!”
Well, lo and behold, Appliance Parts Pros had the parts AND a video! We followed the video almost exactly... I ordered the parts on Wednesday, we tore the thing down on Thanksgiving evening, and reassembled it Friday morning when the parts arrived. Total repair time was about 6 hours (2.5 to tear it down, 1.5 to thoroughly scrub all the nasty parts--especially the tub and gasket, and another 2 hours to reassemble). As others had suggested, to ease the bearings in place easier, we put them in the fridge for an hour or so and used a blow dryer to heat the recess where the bearings fit. I used a rubber mallet around the edges to insert the smaller bearing. For the larger one, I held a 6-inch length of cedar lath on the edges of the bearing and tapped it with a hammer. Driving the bearings in is slow-going, but they eventually slid into place perfectly. Putting the gasket back on was a bit of a chore, so be patient. Overall, the repair was not difficult, but there are a lot of steps.
Anyway, by 2:30 Friday afternoon, Trommy Baby was all back together, happily doing a load of whites with whisper quiet abandon! Woo hoo! You go, Trommy!