Looking for front end looseness, I noticed more slop in the left front wheel bearing than the right. I tried to adjust it out using the Haynes method, which is '...you should just feel the freeplay when moving the rotor axially by hand' or '...you can rotate the backing washer smoothly with minimal force using one finger'. Either way, I can feel freeplay still when shaking at 12 and 6, as much as I had before. If I adjust so it is stiff to turn the washer using 2 fingers, I remove the freeplay when I shake it.

What is the preferred non-gauge method for adjusting this, and am I needlessly concerned about removing the freeplay? The car has about 90k miles, and there is some vibration on some freeway surfaces. I am tackling the problem by eliminating the non-wheel/tire possibilities first. Thanks.

Steve