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When I say domes they could also be called cups, on very early machines only one domed cup was used but yours has two cups to make up one dome.
The guy who is coming to help me will be here in the morning, so in the interim, to save time, I took off the front of the machine. The suspension rod, while intact, came out where it fits into the ‘shock absorber’…..that piece where it goes into the shock absorber split in half, for some reason. The plastic part of the drum where the rod portion attaches to the machine, is ok without damage. The suspension kit that I got is somewhat similar to what is on the machine, although (if by ay chance you watched the video linked) the square rubber piece with the metal cover on it is actually at the bottom of the ‘shock absorber’ (whereas in the video, this is what he uses on the rod portion, to attach to the plastic drum.). The top of the rod (that broke) on my machine has a rubber bushing and a washer (whereas on the video, this is what he uses under the shock absorber). We have all the different parts that are needed from the kit, although potentially they will not be put on the machine in the same order as in the video, But this, so far, seems very doable. I haven’t tipped the machine over yet to see how it is bolted to the bottom frame, and will wait until I have help tomorrow, to do this. Perhaps the worst part of all will be to get the bolt off that holds the entire suspension to the bottom of the frame, as I assume that that’s been untouched since 1982. We’ll see. We’ll also be dislodging a few spiders that, once upon a time, called the innards of this machine home, but have left for the great beyond…..:)
So, in studying this further, it appears that something has been leaking on this side of the machine for some time. The suspension on the opposite side of the machine, the base, etc., looks brand new. On the side of the machine with the problem the suspension rod that came out is rusty, as is the base of the machine. When the rod first broke (while the machine was on) the inlet hose to the tub disconnected. I thought that it was because the machine was wildly off balance. Perhaps, or perhaps there has been a slight leak there for some time? There is nothing else on the side that would leak, other than perhaps a pinhole in the inlet hose? I never noticed any water on the floor, but apparently this is the reason why the connection at the suspension rod finally broke. It rusted through……
The suspension leg under the soap drawer was always more prone to failure due to leaks from the hose from soap dispenser to drum, very common. We used to refit the hose and reseal with copious amounts of Debhor adhesive.
Done. The guy came this morning. (And I made him watch the video…lol). I had the machine dismantled down to the point where all he had to do was tip the machine over and deal with the shock absorber. The top rod had already fallen out, and the bottom portion was easy to remove from the bottom of the machine. The kit I got was somewhat different than the factory set up. The bottom shock absorber actually sat on 2 of the square bushings from the video…one on the inside and one outside. But the new kit worked a treat. Frankly, the only part that I probably wouldn’t have been able to do myself, was push the shock absorber into the rod. It wasn’t that easy for him to do, either. Anyway, all is now put back, and ready to do a load of laundry.
Thank you both so much for all the info and advice. It would have been far more difficult to figure this out (or maybe impossible) without you. I’m sure I’ll be back again, in my effort to keep this 40 year old machine running. Until then, thank you.
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