Hi,
I took the washer apart yesterday and found that concrete counterweight had come loose from the frame. I figured that had to be the core problem, but turns out there's more to it. Anyway, I tried to screw the long screws back in, but either the original holes are stripped or it was tapped a size too large to begin with. In any case, I decided to wrap the weight on there with several thick coat hangers with the weight on a slight rubber pad to reduce vibration.
Then I tried it out and it still went into death wobble. I researched some more and it seems the suspension springs are the next culprit. I found a youtube video about testing the springs by pushing down on each corner of the tub. I did find that the right rear seemed mushy and sometimes would stay sunken in after I pushed on it. And of course the rear ones are four times more expensive than the front ones.
I've read that all should be replaced at the same time, but I'm pretty upset about this piece of junk to begin with, so I'm inclined to replace only this right rear $60 part, but I'll listen to arguments against that idea. However, I wanted to know if there are any cheaper third party manufacturers of these parts? It would be impossible to convince me that OEM parts are more durable. They're junk. Can the springs themselves be bought and replaced if the rest of the rod and ends look ok? After all, if they fail every four years, then that means I have to spend $150 every four years just for those parts; nevermind whatever else like the bearings, straps, belt, pumps, etc that will probably break too.
And lastly, what is the difference between the front and rear springs other than the color? Why in the world would the rears be four times more expensive? Seriously I was trying to determine from a physics point of view where the extra supposed weight or stress is coming into play making that part more expensive. It's a round tank with motor in the front and counter weight in the rear with water that distributes weight evenly? Must be something I'm missing like the centrifugal force applied due to direction of spin or something like that. Would love to hear opinions and know why I shouldn't just thrown some $15 blue ones back there. If they all were $15, I'd replace all four. :p

thx