relative to the vertical center line of the guide post greatly reduces the forces on the guide post and on the slide bushing limiting heat build up and premature breakdown of lubricant sealant systems in addition by mounting the guide bushing on the upper surface of the needle beam and the guide post on the lower surface of the loom frame rather than vice versa the bushing is positioned closer to the point of beam deflection minimizing the horizontal displacement of the center line of the guide post from the centerline of the slide bushing that is otherwise encountered due to the angular relationship between the two centerlines when the needle beam is deflecting due to loading as shown by the differences in length of the dimensions marked 34 a 34 and 34 b 34 in fig4 b while a particular embodiment of this invention has been shown and described it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects as one example thereof the slide bushing 170 and its associated parts could be pivotally mounted to the undersurface of the frame 174 of the loom while the guide posts 172 could be rigidly fixed to the upper surface of the needle beam such an embodiment although not achieving the full benefits of the preferred embodiment of the invention provides compensation for the misalignment of the axes of the guide posts and the slide bearing and provides some compensation for the side thrust generated by.