of the trunion 20 comprises a cylinder the engagement of this cylindrical trunion with the inner surface 44 of the bearing 40 prevents angular displacement therebetween in an alternative embodiment as shown in fig5 a bearing assembly 60 is fit onto a spider 14 the spider includes three trunions 72 as described above with reference to fig4 each trunion 72 includes a finished bearing surface 74 the needles 64 of the bearing 60 rotate at 62 on the bearing surface 74 as an inner race in a manner similar to that described in the 39 698 patent the bearing 60 includes a plurality of needles 64 an outer race 66 and a cage 68 to retain the needles 64 after assembly to the outer race 66 prior to installation onto the trunion 72 thus the bearing assembly 60 is shipped as a modular unit and pressed fit onto the trunion 14 in a simple manner without the need to handle loose needles at the tripod assembly source the cage is preferably made from a glass filled polymer as is known to one skilled in the art the cage includes a plurality of pockets for retaining the needles to the outer race as is known to one skilled in the art in an alternative embodiment the cage is formed from steel in a manner similar to that described above with reference to fig4 the bearing 60 is retained after.