Posted by: Bob W
« on: July 19, 2013, 08:10:24 PM »Bendix joints need to be "held together" inside the knuckle. Therefore the Bendix joints use a thrust washer in the end of the tube as seen in Quebec Jeep's photo above. That takes care of one side. There were two different methods used on the outside. Early Bendix joints with the threaded ends had a shoulder on the outer shaft that went up against the drive flange. This shoulder held the joint together from the outside. The early spindle bushings did not have a shoulder. Later the Bendix outer shaft changed to a different design with no threaded end. These later shafts relied on the spindle bushing with the shoulder to hold it together. So the later Bendix axles also use the shouldered spindle bushings.