2003 V6 3.0L Auto/RWD Ford XL tapered roller bearings torquing specs?

[Dibs294]

I don't have much experience with tapered bearings, but have schooled myself so here I am requesting what I need from you gurus of wisdom, haha. I was wondering what the torque specs are. I have a click torque wrench to use and I'm needing to know the correct torque and also...if I need to put the wheels down for final torquing adjustment for this particular truck and bearing type.

 

[pjtoledo]

tighten them while hanging in the air, no weight allowed.
keep wheel rotating while tightening
there are several opinions of how to do this, I recall the manual goes something like this:

tighten to 21 lb/ft, (that fully seats the bearings) 28.5 Nm

loosen 1 turn

tighten to 17 INCH POUNDS, that ain't much! 2Nm

EDIT:
that's what the manual says, I usually go just a bit tighter on the final step.

I do not grease the spindle stub, prefer to keep it dry between the stub and inner race to prevent
the race from slowly rotating on the stub.

 

[Curious Hound]

I think the second torque is around 15-20 in-lbs. I know its in-lbs, not ft-lbs. I do it by feel and hope for the best.