My LG WM1814CW seems to have a drum balance problem. At high spin speeds, the drum rubs against the rubber seal, and starts smoking. I took the back cover off but did not see any thing obvious. I read at another site about a spider that can break and lead to this. But I did not find the other symptoms that should come with a broken spider.

When we run the washer at medium spin speed and keep the load small we don't see the problem.

Any one have experience with this problem?

I had the exact same problem with an unbalanced inner tub rubbing against and burning off pieces of the rubber door gasket. There weren't any knocking or banging noises that typically indicate a bearing or spider problem, but it turned out to be a broken spider after all. I ordered a replacement, but one of the three sides was already showing fatigue right out of the box. It had a slight bend and tiny fractures along the entire length of both the top and bottom. Appliance Parts Pros quickly sent out a replacement free of charge and kindly refunded my shipping charges, too.

It was pretty difficult to get the original spider off the inner tub because the screws on each end were rusted and the gunky build up sort of fused the spider to the drum. After some careful banging (with a rubber mallet and a hammer) and prying (with a putty knife, a screwdriver, and a Stanley "Wonder Bar") it eventually came off, but next time I'd consider replacing the entire inner tub assembly which includes a spider already attached. It's about $50 more, but I'm guessing it's worth it.