Has anyone ever told you never to transport a Whirlpool-style washing machine on its back or on its side? Most people haven’t. They lay one flat in a pickup bed because it’s the only way to fit it home, stand it back up, and then wonder why it leaks, vibrates, or cracks the tub a few weeks later. The reason it happens is a piece of the machine’s internal design most owners don’t even know is there — and it’s specifically about what happens after the shipping pins come out.
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The Shipping Pins You Probably Never Saw
When these Whirlpool-style washers left the factory, there were shipping pins running through the bottom of the machine. Each pin passed through a hole in the skateplate — that’s the heavy triangular plate at the bottom of the tub that supports the tub and center post. The pins keep that skateplate locked rigid against the rest of the assembly while the machine is in transit, so the skateplate can’t crash around inside the cabinet during shipping.
Underneath each pin, the factory mounts a small plastic cup. When the delivery driver brings your washer to your house, there’s a strap hanging off the back of the cabinet. They pull that strap, the pins drop out of the skateplate holes, and they land in the little plastic cups underneath. The cups catch the pins and hold them there forever unless somebody crawls under the machine and digs them out.
The reason for the cups: nobody wants the pins rattling around loose inside the cabinet. Once they’re caught, you forget about them. That’s the design.
What Happens When You Lay the Machine Down
Once those shipping pins are out of the skateplate, the only thing holding the skateplate centered on the pedestal is a set of small fins on the bottom of the tub. Those fins are designed to keep the skateplate in place as the action of the washer moves the tub back and forth.
Lay the machine on its side or its back and gravity pulls the skateplate sideways. With nothing holding it down anymore, the skateplate can ride up and over one of those fins. When you stand the machine back up, the skateplate is now sitting out of position — off-center, hung up on the wrong side of a fin, or worse.
The next time the machine tries to agitate, the misaligned skateplate pushes the fin up into the plastic outer tub The plastic tub cracks at the impact point. Now you’ve got a washer that leaks during fill, vibrates badly during spin, and starts dumping water into the cabinet.
What the Damage Looks Like
You usually find the crack along the bottom of the inner tub, sometimes radiating up the sidewall. From the top with the lid open and the spin basket removed you’ll see it once you push area around the fins. Symptoms in service:
— Leak that gets worse during agitate cycles
— Loud banging or grinding under the basket during spin
— Visible plastic cracks along the bottom or lower wall of the tub
— Off-balance that don’t clear by re-leveling
Can You Save a Tub With This Damage?
If the crack is in the plastic tub near the fins, yes — I patch them with 3M Scotchkote Hot Melt Patch Compound. Plastic welding rod doesn’t bond to washing-machine tub plastic reliably (I’ve tried — the bond breaks under spin loads). Scotchkote does. Clean the area, drill small stop holes at each end of the crack so it can’t keep spreading, then heat the Scotchkote stick with a small propane torch and push the molten compound into the crack. Work in short sections and feather the edges before it cools. A properly patched tub holds up to normal spin loads for years.
If the skateplate is loose or out of position but the tub isn’t cracked, you may be able to pull the basket, reseat the skateplate against the fins correctly, and put it all back together. That’s worth attempting before scrapping the machine.
How to Transport a Washer Correctly
Always upright. If you can’t fit it standing up in your truck bed, find a different truck or rent one. If you absolutely must lay it down to make it fit, be sure the skateplate is positioned between the tub fins correctly when it is stood upright.
What You Need
- 3M Scotchkote Hot Melt Patch Compound — Search on Amazon
- Small Propane Torch — Search on Amazon
- Appliance Moving Dolly — Search on Amazon
- Ratchet Straps — Search on Amazon
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through the links in this post. It costs you nothing extra and helps support the channel.
Before you spend money on a service call, check my repair guides on Gumroad. Step-by-step diagnostic manuals for the most common washer and dryer problems. harperknowles.gumroad.com
Rather have a pro do it? If you’re anywhere in central Louisiana — Oakdale, Oberlin, Elizabeth, Pitkin, Pine Prairie, and Glenmora — Harper & Knowles handles this all the time. Call (337) 831-6757 or visit harperandknowles.com to schedule a service call.
About the Author: Chip Knowles owns Harper & Knowles Washing Machine and Dryer Repair LLC in Oakdale, Louisiana. New video every Sunday at 2 PM Central on YouTube.