What Actually Holds a Drum Steady at Full Spin
A drum full of wet laundry spinning at over a thousand revolutions a minute wants to move. Four components stop it, and a vibration problem is always one of them failing.
Counterweights. Heavy concrete or composite blocks bolted to the outer tub. They add mass so the assembly resists being thrown around. They rarely fail — but their mounting bolts can work loose over years of vibration, which produces a heavy knocking that people often mistake for bearings.
Suspension springs. These hold the drum assembly up inside the cabinet. A broken spring lets the drum hang low and off-centre, and you can usually see it sitting unevenly behind the door.
Shock absorbers. These damp the drum's movement — they turn oscillation into heat instead of letting it build. Worn absorbers are the single most common cause of a machine that walks across the floor: the drum swings and nothing slows it down, so the wobble compounds as the spin accelerates.
The feet. Four adjustable feet that must put the machine solidly on the floor with no rocking. Get these wrong and the other three components cannot do their jobs, no matter how good they are.
