Edit:
2 Year update 10/18/2021 - the needle bearings worked great for 2 years. I disassembled for re-greasing and found that they HAVE caused some minor damage and mushrooming to the drive shaft especially on the left side where the transmission sits and pulls against the shaft to tension the...
EDIT: Anyone reading this please check out my newer thread regarding how to upgrade from this bushing system to bearings. The bushings need to be kept clean at a minimum and ideally switched to bearings. The below thread addresses this as well as has other good preventive ideas...