In article , Qtip wrote:
On Tue, 15 Mar 2011 17:59:13 -0400, wrote:

I have seen a joint go together with a needle bearing across the end
of the trunion and still get that snap-ring "almost" in..

As close as the OP indicates his is. Some trunnions have a slot across
the end - and the needle was nicely squashed into that groove.

It didn't last long.

Lack of grease or something other than a misplaced needle bearing, but have you
ever seen one run *this* long after it needed replacing?
http://mysecondbathouse.com/BadUjoint.jpg

I haven't seen one quite *that* bad, but I've seen a couple that were close...