Samsung DC60-40137A Washer Spider Bolt OEM Part

I followed Matt's awesome video from AppliancePartsPros.com to build up my "I can do this" reserves. But here's the story leading up to that point... We purchased our Samsung WF419 on a “Black Friday” special November 2009 expecting to get some good years out of the washer/dryer pair. We don’t run more than 2 or 3 loads a week in the washer, so ours has had relatively little use over the beginning of its anticipated and expected long life-cycle. When the “thumping” started on the spin cycle a few months back, I just blew it off as an occasional out of balance load that wasn’t a big deal. Then the thumping became “very” noticeable and my wife said there was water leaking underneath. Well, nothing like a “leaking” and “thumping” washer to get your attention, so I thought I’d better look into the problem. After just a quick internet search, I found that these units have a “fatal flaw” that happens with a large number of them, even if you use them exactly as directed. We’ve never used anything other than the recommended “high efficiency” detergent and kept loads at a normal to light size, so what we found after taking the unit apart was quite shocking. The “spider” or drum shaft assembly had deteriorated into a metal mush and one of the 3 arms was completely cracked through. Also, the “thumping” we were hearing was the inner wash drum rubbing against the front half of the washers plastic housing and had sliced though the housing in 2 areas creating the leak we were experiencing. Wow, I really couldn’t believe a lightly used Samsung washing machine that was only 6 years old, could self-destruct like this. We had sold our “flawless” Maytag stackable after 15 years of continuous service (no issues ever) to “upgrade” to this Samsung set. Well, it goes without saying that I’m not real happy with this purchase now, and am only happy that I’m savvy enough to do this repair myself, with the help of the fabulous Appliancepartspros.com guys. Their website, videos, and of course staff have made diagnosis, disassembly, parts acquisition, and repair a much more comfortable experience. If you have this model and it starts to consistently spin out of balance, plan on a complete tear down of your washer or a VERY LARGE repair bill if you have a service company do the job.

I researched the model number and several videos on YouTube. There were at least three (3) videos of Samsung customers who had taken the machine apart and found the spider was broken. They all stated that the machine was junk because replacement parts were over $500, and with labor, $800 to repair. The drive motor is warranted for 10 years, and our machine only had 2,296 cycles on it. Before throwing the machine away, I tore it apart. It wasn't too hard to get the machine apart. Most difficult part was getting the springs off that hold the tub assembly to the frame of the machine. That was a two-person job. Once I had it apart, sure enough, the spider was broken. There was a ton of liquid detergent on the back of the machine that I suspected was causing the machine to come out-of-balance. At the speed these machines rotate, any un-intended weight will cause an out-of-balance situation. I checked the bearings that are molded into the rear tub assembly, and they spun freely. Many people on-line state that you shouldn't replace the spider without replacing the bearings, which means you need to replace the entire rear tub. The rear tub is over $250, the spider $100, and the bolts $20. People on-line stated this was the advice from Samsung technical support. While I see Samsung's perspective, check the bearings yourself and decide what to do . My bearings were spinning free and the grease was still in them, so I decided to just replace the spider. The seal between the tub & spider was still good; no defect. I cleaned the entire tub with hot water and soap, cleaned up real easy. I bought some silicone lubricant and re-greased the tub bearings the best I could. I put everything back together, ran a test cycle per manual, it ran perfectly. My wife now calls me the "Washing Machine Whisperer". Thank you AppliancePartsPros.com for your help.

Luckily happen to be walking by when machine started to make "grinding" noise as washer tub started to hit plastic tub. Assuming by shutting down machine, prevented any more damage. Aside from noise, when we opened door, tub appeared "crooked" tilted back a lot further then normal. When we removed the rubber door seal, could spin drum and hear and see the wobble and grinding. Internet told us the possibilities and so we proceeded to break down the machine. A drill with Philips bit and socket driver adapter makes breaking machine down exponentially faster. (Some good pics as you go and Dixie cups labeled for each all the screws also helps)... Hardest part is getting tub out, it requires two people as one needs to support tube while other undoes support springs. After that unscrewing tub and to get to Spider and shaft was easy. The arm was broken in two places. Also order the six bolts as they also will be destroyed. Part were here in two days (with regular shipping and delivered on a Saturday!!, appliance partpros were amazing). We used water proof grease (found by faucet repair in your box store, get at least 2 containers) to lube new shaft and rubber gasket when putting tub back together, also took opportunity to do complete maintenance, lube shocks, we cleaned out all the drain hoses, sprayed all connections with contact cleaner, etc... (The machine will be stripped down to just the metal frame.) Then two people to put tub back in and then its a one person job after that. Hardest part was actually getting bolt thru shocks lined back up, due to angle inside machine. All in all, about hour and 20 minutes with some time spent figuring out what screws went where.. (you think you will remember, but you won't)... need to label for sure... Machine works like new, no noise, no vibration, perfect...

My washing machine was making a loud thumping sound and bouncing around a bit. Research suggested that it could be bearings and/or the spider shaft assembly. After watching the instruction videos to replace the spider or bearings, I seen you need to replace both the shaft seal and tub gasket to get to the spider and bearings. So I ordered both and waited for them to arrive. Plan was to disassemble the washer, determine what was needed, order the additional parts needed, and reassemble after the additional parts arrived. If no parts were needed, I could just reassemble the washer without waiting for the seal and gasket. The gasket and seal arrived about a week later (used the slow shipping). I verified other parts I thought I might need were in stock before disassembling the washing machine. Then I proceeded with the repair so the down time would be minimal. Several things that I found and did that may help others. 1) I moved the washing machine out to my garage where I had room to work all around it and a place for the parts as they were removed. 2) I used my iPad to play the instruction video as I worked, stopping and starting as needed. 3) My model was different than the one in the video but it was easy to work around any differences. 4) I used a magnetic parts tray to place the screws in to keep them separate and in order. I could have used something like an egg carton. It helped a lot for reassembly. 5) When I tried to take the front panel off, I found out there are two additional screws in the bottom tabs the front panel sits on that had to be removed prior to removal. My washing machine sits on a pedestal so they were easy to get to otherwise I would need to tilt the machine to get to them. 6) Getting the tub springs off was a challenge at first. Height, since the washer was on a pedestal and the little loop at the top of the tub allowed only two fingers. I found if I stood on a step stool and used a length of nylon strap (A belt would work) I could loop the strap through the tub loop then lift and pull the tub toward me, the tub would rise and rotate toward the spring making it easy to remove (and to reconnect the springs later). Gently lower the tub. Went to the other side and did the same thing. 7) I used a plastic crate (sort of like a milk crate) to place the tub shaft side down on so I could take the tub apart. The video used wood blocks. 8) The drum came out easily and I placed it on a rubber mat (sort of like a welcome mat) open side down to prevent damage to the tub. 9) The back of the drum was covered with a lot of crud so I cleaned it using water, screwdriver, and a wire brush. Found that my spider and shaft assembly had cracks. Also part of the spider had eroded away. Checked all the other parts and found the bearings were okay and the front shocks appeared iffy. 10) I think the banging and jumping was caused more by the crud buildup and the erosion around the spider causing an out of balance condition. The spider and shaft still felt solid. Since the spider was eroded and cracked, I opted to replace the spider, as it would have failed in the near future. Ordered a new spider, the recommended spider bolts, and front shocks and used 2 day shipping. All arrived 2 days later. 11) I sprayed penetrating lubrication several times on the spider bolts and left it overnight. I used a 12 point box wrench and the bolts started to round off so I used a 6 point socket. I broke 4 of the 6 bolts trying to get them off. So ordering new spider bolts was a great idea. With the bolts out and the broken ones, the spider was easy to remove from the tub. No problem installing the new spider with the new bolts. 12) I ordered the front shocks because there was a 1/4-inch play in them (no resistance). The new ones had the same 1/4-inch play but seem to have slightly more resistance so I used the new ones. 13) The shaft seal was worn so replacing it was needed. The tub seal appeared okay but replaced it as I did not want leak issues. The tub reassembly was easy. Getting the tub into the washer was a bit awkward due to size, weight, and positioning it. Easier with two persons but I was able to do it by myself. Reattaching the springs was easy using the strap through the tub loop method. 14) Reinstalling the door boot seal outer ring was difficult for me using the locking pliers as shown in the video as it kept slipping off. I ended up starting the wire as shown and using a Hunter sprinkler adjustment tool I had. Once I had the wire inserted clockwise up to the 2 o'clock position, I used the plastic side of the sprinkler adjustment tool to hook the wire and just rotate the wire in place while holding the wire at the 6 o’clock with my other hand. It was a lot quicker and easier than using locking pliers. Overall, the repair was not difficult.

Googled the problem and found the flange shaft assembly was a likely culprit. I dismantled the washer which was not too difficult. Key steps were Follow the AppliancePartsPro video for shock absorber replacement up until unbolting the shocks. Remove the support bar for the water inlet hosing on the top of the machine (screws are the front, slots in the back) and fold these and the dispenser tray holder back out of the way. Remove the top bracket the holds the control panel. Remove the large red counter weights from the drum Unbolt the front shocks from the plastic drum Unbolt the front half of the plastic drum - the only difficult bit is disengaging the support spring that faces front to back - you have to lift the drum and flex the spring sideways. You need to remove the heater wiring, and a couple of pipes from the front half of the drum then lift the front half off. Lastly remove the drive rotor at the rear by undoing the single large bolt and the inner rotating steel drum should slide out. My flange was in three pieces so had collapsed completely. For the replacement I coated it with four coats of Plasti-Dip a rubberised coating compound and hope this prevents and early repeat. Reassembly was not difficult - one tip is to make sure the heater coil does not get bent during handling the front drum half - it can scrape against the reinstalled inner rotating drum. I replaced nothing else. The main bearing seems fine In defence of Samsung machines, ours had a very heavy load for a large family running several times daily for four and half years before this failure. With this $120 part replace it is back to perfect operation. In all other respects it has been the best washer we have ever owned.