The inner drum is supported only by the rear bearing and shaft, no support at the front.

If your drum has been wobbling and spinning off-kilter, you may have a broken drum spider ... the spider is a 3-armed piece which includes the drive shaft, attaches to back of the drum for support and stability. The spider is cast aluminum, which corrodes over time and eventually will crack on one or more of the arms.

Awesome, thanks, that is what I came to suspect. I will take a look at the "spider" arm.

Of course, that still leaves me with the leak.

Chances are the bearings have gone, along with the seal. This has caused the basket to wobble.

Nope, bearings are fine. I removed the lower front counter weight and discovered that the leak is caused by the agitator rubbing against the plastic tub front, There is now a circular cut in the front of the tub in the plastic. This part is now shot and needs replacing. I noticed that this part has been superseded, so it makes me wonder if I need the back piece as well. The front tub half 178, rear is 262.

But the cause: the agitator appears to be attached to the spindle in 3 locations on the back, at least from what I can tell in the picture of the part. One of the 3 appears to have come partially lose causing it to wobble. Only way I can tell for sure is to completely remove the drum from the plastic tub. A big job.

Does anyone know if the agitator is fixable? Is it riveted or welded? Is it somehow fixable? The agitator is $432. That's about 850 plus in parts

In all, it appears like this might actually be a dead washer!

As I stated above, the "spindle" to which you refer is commonly called a spider. It's made of cast aluminum and cannot be repaired, must be replaced. Mounts to the drum via screws/bolts on the three arms. Parts diagrams will reference whether the spider is available as a separate item or only part-and-parcel with the entire inner drum. You don't cite your machine's model number, but a particular Duet model I checked, the spider is available only with a complete drum.

Unfortunately, deterioration of the spider is a known factor on pretty much ALL frontloaders on the market, which limits the usable lifespan to the point of its failure. It's a design flaw -- an aluminum spider mounted to a stainless steel drum results in galvanic corrosion of the aluminum, particularly in the chemical solution of the wash water. In cases of which the spider is included with the drum, the replacement is typically priced so high as make the repair economically unfeasible.

Dadoes: Sorry, I totally misunderstood you before and you are 100% correct. The "spider" you refered to I thought was the "flywheel" which the belt from the motor went around. Yes, the shaft, spider and agitator are one piece from the factory at $431.00, and it has seperated, as you predicted. I will get another machine, and proably finish taking this apart to determine if a DIY fix is possible/worth it. Then probably toss.

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