I need to replace the upper drum seal/glides and the lower drum seal because:
1. One of the three nylon glides has worn very thin and has already lost its corner.
2. The lower felt seal is very thin--when new it was half the thickness of the upper felt seal--and is probably the wrong part.
3. The dryer overheats, and I think I've ruled out all possible causes except a leaky front seal. (A leaky front seal could reduce the vacuum at the back of the drum, so that some of the heated air could fail to be sucked into the back of the drum, and would instead heat the dryer cabinet).

The wear pattern on the seals and glides is about 1/2 inch wide. This means they mate about 1/2 inch into the lip of the front of the drum when the front panel is attached to the dryer cabinet.

I'm wondering if the replacement seals should be glued about 1/16 inch further inward than the old seals were. The purpose would be to spread the drum's weight over more surface area of the glides, to reduce the rate of wear and the friction. The flat area of the lip of the front of the drum is about 9/16" wide, so moving the seals 1/16" inward would fully utilize the lip. This should maximize the effective surface area of the glides, increasing it about 12%, which seems significant and worth considering.

The seals/glides were new a few years ago when I replaced the worn older seals/glides. These replacements have worn a lot in a short time. (The rear bearing was replaced at the same time, and appears to be in excellent condition.)

The upper seal, glides, and the upper ends of the lower seal bear the weight of the front of the drum. The nylon glides reduce the friction when the drum rotates. The glides probably bear most of the weight (until they wear thin). Increasing the effective surface of the glides might help them last a lot longer.

On the other hand, I wouldn't want the glides or seals to be so deep into the drum that clothing could snag on the glides or seals. I'm hopeful that 1/16 inch won't cause the clothes to snag, and might even reduce the risk of snags by helping to keep the clothes out of the gap between drum and seals. The inward edge of the upper felt is about a millimeter deeper than the inward edge of the glides, and would be in the zone where the lip of the drum begins to curve away if glued 1/16 inch further inward. Because of the curve, the felt in that zone shouldn't wear as thin, and thus might fill the gap and keep clothes out of the gap.

Would clothes pick up a stain just from contacting the innermost edge of the felt, or do clothes pick up a stain only when they snag?

My other concern regarding moving the seals 1/16 inch is that it might increase the friction between drum and seals so much that friction would cause a problem. I presume there's a tradeoff: on the one hand, increasing the effective surface of the glides ought to reduce friction by distributing the weight of the drum. On the other hand, if the felt is thick, increasing the amount of felt contacting the drum might increase the friction. I was told that the glides bear much more of the weight of the drum than the felt seals do, so hopefully increasing the felt's contact area by 12% won't be a problem.

An alternative, let's call it Plan B, would be to move only the upper seal & glides inward. In other words, the new lower seal would be installed in the same position as the old lower seal was. The idea is to avoid increasing the friction more than necessary. But this would create a discontinuity where the ends of the lower seal meet the ends of the upper seal, and perhaps that could cause clothes to snag.

Another alternative--a compromise between Plan A and Plan B, would be to install the lower seal at a tiny angle: the upper ends of the lower seal would be 1/16 inch further inward, but the bottommost part of the lower seal wouldn't be. Call this Plan C. The continuity with the ends of the upper seal might reduce the risk of snagged clothing, compared to the discontinuity at the seals' ends in Plan B.

Does anyone have an opinion about any of these alternatives?

Thanks in advance for your help,
Margret