Craig/49 Panel,
Is the thrust bearing obviously defective when you look at it. As I recall, the bearing is two formed halves, one mashed and formed over the other. Sometimes when you try to hold the bottom, or inner race and rotate the outer formed piece, they are jerky and hard to turn.
I think it is fine this way. It's far from a precision bearing and it only turns a total 80° or so.
The important feature would be the hardness of the balls and the temper of the race area.
I remember having thrust bearings I thought were funky for this very reason. They were fine. If this isn't your problem, this post will self destruct in 3 minutes. Good luck.
Stuart
