The front wheel bearings on our cars are Set3 and Set5 tapered roller bearings. These are probably the MOST COMMON wheel bearings in the world for rear wheel drive vehicles due to the fact that most GM vehicles used them, in one model or another, for over four DECADES!

These bearings have been adjusted using coconut wrenches in Samoa, ice cubes have been used to set tolerances on them in Nome, political prisoners adjusted them in Siberia using leftover pieces of Russian tanks. These bearings have crossed more continents, without complaint, than a congressman on a tax-payer financed junket.

The fact is,..... Mercedes was ahead of the curve, on a method to set the clearance in a precise manner that could be duplicated. That's all. Most vehicle manufacturers, at the time these bearings were in the greatest use, called for torqueing them down tight to seat them and remove microscopic "burs"; then loosening up the hub/axle nut; then retightening until just barely snug and then backing the nut off a fraction of a turn (amount depending on which service manual you read) (I think Pontiac called for 1/4 or 1/6 of a turn back-off). This eliminated any pre-load, which tapered bearings don't like, yet they were not loose enough to move much and micro-wobble and loosen up (yes, even with the castellated nut/cover and the cotter pin).

Using a dial gauge to set them is the correct way, BUT.......for goodness sake, it doesn't have to be agonized over and over. If you are in range of the Mercedes recommended specs you're "golden" AND THIS IS HOW YOU SHOULD DO IT, WITH THE GAUGE; if you're an old time tech , who has done 1,000 Chevy Impalas, then I'd trust you to do it by feel, and I'd drive from Nome to Patagonia on those bearings.

__________________
The Golden Rule

1984 300SD (bought new, sold it in 1988, bought it back 13 yrs. later)