Installing new wheel bearings. Book says to use a Spring scale to set the pre-load. Don't have one. Is there an equivalent torque setting to use instead?

Herb

 

Tighten by hand. Spin the wheel and tire around a few times... then tighten by hand. Spin it some more and turn it with a wrench till its pretty tight and loosen it by half a turn. The wheel should spin freely without any binding.

After all that drive it around a little while. If the bearing gets hot its too tight.

If the front wheel has no play and its not getting hot while driving you've won.

 

basically you want it to be as loose as possible without any play.

i tighten the nut while i turn the rotor, and just go too tight, then loosen it until its too loose, and then snug it up a bit. plan on checking it after a drive or two, just check the wheel for play, should be zero to a teeny little bit