after ducking today i struck up a conversation with another duck hunter that had a home build LT,he said it was modeled after some marsh motor he seem on line.my question to him was why he had a upper bushing and a thrust bearing,he said you need both.so my question to you guys who now way more than i do on this subject.do i need both or am i better off with a thrust bearing.

If your talking about some type of roller/ball bearing then no you dont need the bushing. The bushing is needed to keep the shaft aligned with the u-joint and take the upward load from the shaft being pushed toward the engine under power, the thrust bearing takes the actual "push" from the shaft and keeps it from being taken by the crank bearings. Its hard to explain without a picture but if you have your motor level and your shaft at an angle downward there is force being directed directly in line with the drive shaft. with the angle on the shaft, a portion of that force is transmitted through the u-joint and to the crank bearings (thrust load) the other portion is directed vertically at an angle somewhere between the angle of the shaft and that of the motor, the bushing absorbs this load as well as dampens vibrations and reduces shaft whip.