I inherited a 15 to 20 year old GE clothes about ten years ago and it has performed flawlessly, until about a month ago. It started squealing at a level that can heard outside of my home. My wife says that it takes longer to dry a load of clothes also.
I have taken the top off the unit and disengauged the drive belt from the motor. I pluged the unit back in and started the motor and it did not squeal. With the top off I can shift the drum up and down about an inch either way. I plan on replacing the drive belt. What else should I do?

Hello cj

You have to do a little research here, to check what is going on in your dryer :

Remove the rear panel, and have a look as to what is going on.
Check the drive belt : is it frayed?
Is the drum running against something?
Does anything look lose or broken?

Please be careful : do not touch anything while the dryer is connected to the power.

If you can not find anything, remove the power - take the power cable out of the socket and put it on the ground.
Note down how the belt is connecting the drum and motor.
Remove the belt (by taking away the tension from the belt this is easy).
Spin the (empty) drum a couple of times by hand, as fast as possible. Is it running freely? Any noises?
Spin the motor a couple of times by hand, as fast as possible. Is it running freely? Any noises?

If everything seems to look fine, squeaking or shrill noises may also point at a problem with either the teflon gliders (replace gliders), with the plastic rollers (replace rollers), or with the drum bearing (replace dryer). You can not economically replace the drum bearing.

If needed you can come back to the board and discuss your findings!
If necessary contact me by private mail (click on my handle and follow instructions) to draw my attention. I will than reply here again.

Success !

:)