Hi,
If you get a good technical service manual, it will advise you to use a torque wrenches. Some suggest both foot-pound and inch pound wrenches.

Be sure that both the bearings have their outer races seated into the hub. They are to be against their internal shoulders and checked with a mirror, if you have replaced them.
This should be been done before the final assembly. Since this is what you are about to do when you are putting the wheel back on.

The specifications can vary slightly, mostly from the size of the bearings or mass of the hubs. Seating pressure is 25 foot pounds and up to 50 foot pounds while rotating the wheel. The lowest number is more appropriate for car spindles.

The whole goal is to set the bearings rollers into their tapered races and excess play out. The inner and outer race of each set of the front and rear bearing in their place. It is important that the inner race of the rear bearing be set against the rear spindle shoulder in the process.

After the wheel is torque to its seating pressure. Some reset specifications vary with design of how to back off the nut.

Some say back it off one flat of the hex nut (60 degrees) or about one quarter turn that is 90 degrees. Another favorite is slotted metal caps, one slot, or even two slots approach phrased, “which ever is closer to a cotter pin hole!”

All of us would like to feel with certainty and confidence that we did it right.

The idea is to use the pitch distance of the thread on the spindle to arrive at a clearance distance to allow for a running fit and to allow for heat generated by the brakes. The problem is this will vary with each manufacturers spindle and nut design even though the bearings have to operate the same.

Now in my opinion, snug is a term that is a variable. It is like the 60 to 90 degrees being the same as 60 out of 90 mechanics that can and will feel snug, differently.

This is where I myself have determined over the years to use my torque wrenches to narrow the field to a standard. Machinists like standards because that is what makes things interchange with each other. Eli Whitney had something to do with that just a few years ago!

When I do the final release and reset with the wheel stopped, I have had good success with using those foot-pound numbers converted to inch pounds.

One-foot pound to two-foot pounds converts to 12 inch to 24-inch pounds.

I can use a foot-pound wrench and look for it to wiggle up to a reading of about one-foot pound, which is not accurate.

I like using my INCH pound wrench a reading 12 or higher up to that 25-reference number seems to works great. That way I keep that 25 number as a maximum, in my head, for the whole job on these cars.

Anything in between is a fair game in my ballpark.

The 25-foot pounds seating pressure works well on my pickup too. I have yet to use it on my motor home but since the tires are much larger, some extra seating pounds might be necessary.

Overall, I will stick to using the light feel and expanded reading of an inch-pound torque wrench for obtaining a running fit up for ALL tapered bearings.

Phil