2003 QX4 has 135K miles on it. Previous owner didn't do any maintenance he didn't have to so I assume the front wheel bearings have never been adjusted. A little motion when I wiggle the wheels and when I pulled the wheel off and jiggled the brake rotor I confirmed it is in the wheel bearing. Popped off the hubcap with a scraper and a screwdriver. Removed the lock nut was easy to screw off with a screwdriver in the hole--too easy I think, probably means it needed adjustment.
Reinstallation requires torquing to 58-72 ft-lbs and then loosening, re tightening to inch lbs, etc. So I made the torquing device below out of some scrap aluminum, some threaded rod, and some T-nuts I keep around for bolting things down in the machine shop. I used my milling machine to cut the slot in the aluminum and lathe to turn the tips of the threaded rod down to 1/4" to fit in the holes of the lock nut.
Now that I've got the tool, I'm going to replace the rotors and repack the outer bearings tomorrow. In the future I'll check the preload on the lock nut more frequently since that is easy to do just by taking the wheel off and popping the hubcap off.
--Jerry