Method and apparatus for assessing the setting of the bearings of a Hookes universal joint, in order to assemble the joint with correct free play conditions in the directions along the axes (26, 27) of the trunnions (9a, 9b, 9c, 9d) of the joint cross member (8). One yoke (3) of the joint is held fixed by member 28 and the other yoke (4) is secured to a flange 16 of a bending bar 17 whose other end is fixed to the ball 22 of a ball joint 21. The external part 23 of joint 21 is radially movable in a guideway 24 relative to the axis 29 to articulate the joint and the guideway is moveable as a whole about the axis 29 through an angle of 90 DEG by a drive 25. Such angular movement cause the bar 30 to describe a part conical path and the joint to articulate about both axes 26, 27. The bar is provided with strain gauges 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d, to measure the expansion and compression on opposite sides of the bar which is indicative of the torque required to articulate the joint about the two axes 26, 27. This enables the correct thickness of the spring retaining rings 13 retaining bearing cups 11 to be determined. IMAGE
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