I noticed my 5-year-old Samsung, front-loading washing machine started to sound like my kids were using it as a drum kit. I immediately checked it out and the stainless drum was wobbling so badly that I just took it for an unbalanced load of clothes. My gut was telling me that something was wrong because I had not remembered the machine being so loud before. I removed the clothes from the washer and I ran it empty to confirm my suspicions: the wobble was still there. I would say it had a 2"-3" wobble from top to bottom, though not sideways.
Having no alternative, I took the machine appart.
Without getting into much detail, I will say that I had to remove the top, back, and front panels of my washing machine so I could get to the drum assembly. In order to remove the drum assembly, a few hoses, shock absorbers and finally the suspension springs need to be disconnected as well.
I took the whole plastic tub assembly out of the machine from the front. I opened the plastic tub assembly, gained access to the stainless drum, removed it and discovered the drum axle support/ spider thing was so corroded, one of the arms/spokes had broken right off.
I ordered the part from appliancepartspros and it arrived in two days, as promised.
I washed the stainless drum, the plastic tub, installed the new part, and re-assembled the rest of the machine. My washer now runs normally again. I am glad I caught the problem early because I cannot imagine the damage it would have caused to other more expensive parts had I let it go.
The bottom line is don't buy a Samsung washer unless you enjoy working on appliances. Also, I thought it a good idea to paint the new spider's arms with a corrosion-resistant paint or perhaps even powder-coating it so you don't have to replace the part every five years.