Washer jumps and knocks on spin cycle

[goodeats]

Every spin cycle my top load Crosley washer jumps and starts making a loud knocking noise.
It would only use to do it with large loads but now its every load.
The tub moves easily back and forth while off if that any help in solving the problem,

[Mlke]

Shaking problams can be a real pain. Half the time its caused by a floor that has some give and flex to it and therefore not able to support the machine well in its spin cycle. With your machine, which is built on the old Maytag Atlantis-Performa-Magic Chef style platform it can be a bigger problem then with other machines if its on a soft floor because they don't handle them well at all. Is the machine on carpet? Modular home? Upstairs floor?

If nothing is wrong with the floor, and the machine is not rocking on 3 legs, the first thing I would do is remove the front panel and inspect everything.
If you're not familliar with it, to get the front off look in the gap between the top panel and the front panel and about 5" infrom each side you will see a clip holding the top down. Use a putty knife or whatever to push in on those clips and lift the top up. Sometimes you have to do it pretty forcefully. Once the top is up you will see a 5/16 screw on each side at the top of the front panel holding it on.

one common thing I've been seeing with this washer design at older ages is cracks formed in the base pan. Thats the bottom of the machine that the tub sits on. If it is cracked, its a involved job to replace it since the entire washer is built on it and requires some specialty tools to do it.

Take a look and also look for anything out of the ordinary.

[goodeats]

I will be able to remove the front panel but
if it is a crack in the base plate then I might as well buy a new machine because a base kit is $250.

Anything else that you can think of that might be causing the problem?
Thanks in advance!

[Mlke]

Could have one of the 6 suspension springs broken but its unlikley. Its very rare they do break, and when it does happen the tub tends to lean far to one side and you didn't mention anything about that. Not much else I can think of since you can move the tub around smoothly. There is a snubber ring that the tub assembly sits on, on top of the base pan, and they can wear thin and/or split which will make the machine shake and bang, but when that happens the tub won't move freely around. It tends to just sit on one position and if you try to move it it will feel like its rocking on a teeter and loose. Pretty rare if that happens though as I've only seen it once or twice. The cracked base pan I've ran in to many more times.
What kind of floor is the machine on?

[goodeats]

Should the motor pivot back and forth on its base plate? If I move the motor to one side the belt underneath becomes slack. Is this normal? The agitator post is loose from the screw (about an arms legnth down) that is underneath the top cap.

[Mlke]

Yes the motor has pads it slides on and a spring so it will move around

[louvain]

Thanks Mike for an helpful ideas regarding the washer jumps and knocks on spin cycle.