417.99680210 Kenmore stacked dryer rebuild

[gary]

Hello.  It is time once again to rebuild the dryer as we just started getting the brown staining from the glide wearing down.  This will be, I believe, the 3rd time I've done this job.  Maybe 4th.  We've had this unit for 20 years.  I've posted about this here in the past, but with the new site design I'm unable to view those past posts to get a parts list.  Below is a listing of all the parts I think are necessary, or a good idea, to replace while doing this job.  

Drum Bearing: 5303281153

Drum Glide: 5303937139

Lower Felt: 5303283286

Belt: 137292700

Considering it is 20 years old, is it advisable to replace anything else while doing this job?  The last repair lasted a long time and I now only vaguely remember the components to replace.  Also, the last time I used automotive wheel bearing grease on the drum bearing.  Was that a good idea?  

Regards,

Gary

[AccApp]

I think they are now selling this as a complete kit. 5304461262  also includes the idler pulley assembly. The bearing kit 5303281153 comes with a little tube of recommended grease. 

[gary]

Thank you for the pointer to that kit.  It looks like the belt and pulley do not fit my machine, but the other parts do.  It's still a better deal even with buying the pulley and belt separately.

[Budget Appliance Repair]

You are correct, the belt and if I remember correctly the idler pulley arm is different but the actual idler wheel is the same and can be used on your old idler arm and shaft if the shaft is OK.

As far as the lube for the rear drum support bearing, don't use the thin lithium grease that comes in the kit, use the auto wheel bearing grease that you used before,  (it holds up much better and longer then the lithium grease that the factory uses - I have a can of heavy duty hi-heat auto wheel bearing grease that I use on these).

[Hiroshi]

The white grease doesn't come in the kit anymore- the last few I bought came with a brownish-colored "hi-temp lubricant." I have also used pure silicone a few times and it was better than the white lithium too...

[gary]

Thanks for the comments!  If I recall, one of the first repairs I did I used the lithium grease and I was repairing again in a much shorter than I thought I should be.  That's when I decided to try the wheel bearing grease.  I figured if it was good enough for a car than it should be able to handle a dryer!

BTW, I love this site!  It has saved me many dollars over the years, and I've been able to enjoy many more beers as a result!  I'm happy experts hang around the amateur board to help with those disrespectful appliances.

[gary]

Hello.  This weekend I'm getting around to the actual repair.  So far, so good.  All I need to do now is glue the felt on and it's done.  When ripping off the old felt I noticed the upper felt/pads are not worn evenly.  I've seen that every time I've done this repair, and it's dawning on me that it might be a good idea to offset the felt rather than center it at the top.  I'm sure this has to do with the direction of rotation and one quadrant getting disproportionate pressure on the felt. Thing is, I neglected to note where the extra wear was, so now cannot do an offset felt install.  I'm curious though, has anyone here ever installed the felt off-center to get a more even wear on the nylon pads?