Dryer noises typically come from the drum support rollers, belt idler pulley, or (depending on the dryer's design) front support slides. Could also be bad bearings on the motor.

The drum is supported at the front edge by the dryer's front panel (or a separate bulkhead piece), and rides on "cushions" which may be either a felt strip or a nylon strip. These wear down over time, eventually resulting on metal-to-metal contact between the front support piece and the rim of the drum. Continuing to use the machine in that condition will wear down the drum and/or the front support to the point they must be replaced. Better to replace the slides quickly, before damage occurs.

Thanks dadoes. My husband took the front off and also the front part that holds the tub. (Didn't have time to take the tub out, but just wanted to see what he could see for now). About the slides/glides.......they seemed okay, but how does one really know? If they are causing the noise, would there be a lot of wear in that same area around the rim of the tub? They felt okay. He said he could see one of the rollers and it looked okay.......but can they "look" okay and still be worn? And....if one (or both) are worn, would that make the tub lean a bit, so that the sliders would start getting worn too? One of the YouTubes spoke of a problem with the bearings near/in the stem that holds the rollers. If we ordered a combo-pack of slides/rollers with stems, would that include the bearings? Thanks so much for your help.

You haven't cited the model number so I can't reference parts diagrams for what your machine takes.

Bearings are part of the (rear) drum support rollers, not the shafts. The bearings are softer metal than the shafts but the shafts can wear over time, one 'tell' is if new rollers feel "wobbly" on the shafts.

I did that repair on a friend's dryer last year. He had already bought the part, full kit with drum rollers and shafts, belt and belt idler ... an aftermarket/substitute package from a non-Maytag/Whirlpool vendor. Those may not have the longevity of brand-sourced parts ... you have to decide if the lower cost is a reasonable trade-off.

Thanks for your help dadoes. Here is the what we ordered from Amazon (am I allowed to say that??)

ApplianPar
Dryer Maintenance Kit 312959 Belt & 12001541 Drum Rollers &
306508 Slides Dry Tumbler Bearing Kit for Maytag, Jenn-Air, Crosley,
Whirlpool, Kenmore

I'm sorry....I'm having a lot of trouble posting here recently. My dryer is model #LDE 608 and the serial number is 516321.

That is an aftermarket package, probably the same one my friend bought, should be reasonable enough. The idler was bad and the belt had broken in his case. We didn't replace the slides, kept them for future use, but I did replace the two drum rollers/shafts.

Your serial number should have two letters, which is code for the month and year of manufacture.

Thanks dadoes. You're very helpful! Yeah, I'm thinking the after-market will be okay, since we're so old. haha Okay.....The 2 letters after the serial number are EC.....wasn't sure they were part of the serial number. So does that it mean it was manufactured in May of 1973? I bought it around 1979.

Feb 1980

Or in syntax order, 1980 Feb.

Hmmm... How did you figure that out?

I have a document that translates the coding. There are also a few web sites that cover it. Select the brand, type of appliance, enter model, serial. Some brands roll the serial coding on a repeating cycle, 10, 12, 20 years. In that case the model syntax may have changed at some point or you have to recognize the machine's appearance/aesthetics to target the correct production date.

Thanks dadoes. I was thinking the code was all standardized among different brands. I sure hope we can keep my Maytag washer and dryer going. They just don’t make them like that anymore.

By the way, dadoes, I forgot to initially also post this picture. It's a bit embarrassing to post, but it's probably the first time in 40 years that we even took a look at it. My husband took the small panel off the back and this is what's there. It's exceptionally filthy. Should we clean that? Would that affect anything? It seemed like some of it was greasy and I wasn't sure if we cleaned it up, we should then add some grease. Does a lot of dust in this area cause any problems, or should we just pretend we didn't see it? ;) Thanks!

Yes, clean all that up. It can be a fire hazard. Detach the belt and pull the drum out for full access. Blow the accumulation off the motor with an air compressor if you have one. Make note how the belt is routed around the pulleys, and appears it's the design that has the flat side of the belt against the drum so the ribbed side goes around the motor pulley. (Most other dryers have the mechanism oriented such that the ribbed side goes around the motor pulley and also against the drum.)

I've seen worse. The aforementioned friend's dryer ... they had previously run it for some while without an exhaust to the outdoors. so all the lint residue that'd normally blow outside was getting sucked back in.

Dryers should be opened and cleaned of lint residue every 2 to 5 years, depending how quickly it accumulates.

Thanks dadoes! Would anything around there need re-greased after it was all cleaned up? My husband will be so excited to get to that area again. haha It's in a very small space. I thought we should clean it up when he was in there before. Thinking it could be a fire hazard is pretty scary. Thanks so much for your help!

Shouldn't need lubrication on anything, oil and grease tends to collect lint residue in the dryer interior environment ... but some service techs apply a *very* light bit of good-quality oil (wipe off the excess so it doesn't drip). You have (or will) install the drum rollers/shafts from the repair kit, yes? ... but it doesn't include the idler pulley parts so you might direct some attention there. The idler and rollers are supposed to be self-lubricating sintered bearings (impregnated with oil) but quality of that depends on the parts source.

Thanks dadoes!