My dryer is heating but is making a thumping sound like we are drying a pair of shoes. What could this be?

Sounds like you are putting too much clothes in the dryer try separating them in small amounts an if that don't work well time for new dryer

I would pull the drum to see what is wrong. Probably an easy thing to fix. Always clean it when you fix what is causing the problem. DrTom4444

Probably drum support rollers. In some cases you can replace them without drum removal but will need to pull the front off.

I agree that it is probably the drum support rollers, but if that's the case it's old enough to need cleaning and everything else should be checked as well such as the belt and it is advisable to clean everything like the air passages and the blower wheel. Only 1/16" of dirt in the cupped side of blower vanes will cause a 30% loss in airflow. If the drum support rollers are replaced and the drier cleaned it would be like having a new drier. It's a good time to replace the belt, too, since it's cheap and will save another breakdown and replacement of thermal overload (not cheap) later. DrTom4444