Product review (5 stars): New Heating Element and Cleaned Out Hose and Pipe Did the Trick
Bought this based on believing that it was actually made in USA, and the package and part indicated made by Napco and in the USA. As a replacement it appears that there is a modification to the insulators that appears to be an improvement. The original Whirlpool part had just a single point on each end of the insulator where the coil wire looped through whereas the replacement has 3 which seems to make it more secure and less likely to pop out and possibly short out. The item comes without the thermostat and you can use the old one or for about $6 buy a new genuine Whirlpool replacement which I opted for along with a new thermofuse link since I had it all apart. Once the Dryer back plate was off, it was just a couple of screws and unhook the wires to remove the old unit, very simple. I had more difficulty putting the old hose (plastic) back on and went out and bought a new foil one with a plastic adapter for both ends so next time I want to clean it out, it will be easy to pull apart.

New unit is working great and clothes are drying much faster now which I attribute not only to the new heating element and thermostat, but perhaps even more to my cleaning out a bunch of lint in the hose and pipe. Definitely my bad and glad it didn't cause a fire. The better drying is facilitated by much better air flow through now that the exhaust pipe is cleaned out. I am marking the calendar to check the hose and pipe every 6 months now as the "back pressure" and subsequent higher temperature from all of that lint probably was what did in the original unit. Clothes dry much faster with better hot air flow.

Only time will tell if this unit holds up over the long term, but if I am faithful with cleaning the lint out then it probably will last.