I was prompted to check my front wheel bearings for problems by the tech guys at the last autocross and found that they were indeed loose feeling. I took the bearings out, cleaned them, repacked them and reinstalled them.
The FSM calls for using a pull scale thingie to gauge frictional force or some such and of course I don't have that tool. How does one properly torque the front wheel beraings?
I gather they dont want to be that tight, since as you tighten it gets harder to turn the wheel...
Since somebody had stolen my torque wrench at the autocross I mentioned earlier, I went for "tight enough not to wabble and still loose enough to not make the wheel stop spinning right away".
I haven't driven it yet and could easially take it apart again if need be.

Cory Waters
Has since replaced the torque wrench and purchased a lockable box for his tools.

 

I used a tool weighting whatever the pull scale should measure. Hang the tool from the lug stud.

Also keep in mind one thing about loose front end. Even with new bearings you may still have "wheel bearing play". After I changed the struts up front the wheel bearing play subsided completely. The struts are the primary support for the front suspension's wheel camber and caster. If the inside of the strut is worn/blown, it will give the exact symptom of a worn wheel bearing.

 

yeah, I wiggled it a lot to see where the play was coming from and got it to stop when I tightened the bearing up a smidge.
As I said, I don't have the pull scale.
CW

 

W/o the pull scale, just eyeball it. Tourque it down to spec (14 ft/lb) if my memory serves right, then back it off a smidgen.

 

Tighten it down so you can still move the washer behind it with a screwdriver. If too tight, the washer will not be able to be moved easily.

 

I hung 2lbs worth of junk from a wheel stud (rotate the hub so the stud is at the 3 or 9 o'clock position). Then I tightened the nut until it would just keep the weight from turning the hub (the slightest touch made it rotate).

Seems to have worked...

 

I was thinking the same damn thing