Well, I'm back. 13,500 miles later and the rear bearing (brake side) is tight again. Checked the front wheel (original bearings) and one side is even tighter at 38,500 miles. I just ordered both sets from All Balls.
Nearly 40K on the front seems reasonable, but the rear going out so soon is troublesome- worse even than
@1olbull is reporting. Btw, the existing spacer has what seems to be just the right amount of slop between the two bearings, so they are not jammed against the spacer and causing a bind.
I fought like, ahhh, heck... last time to get those bearings out and thought the ones I replaced would come out easier, but the blind puller is just not budging any of them. Last time I used a torch to heat the rim before the bearings would finally pull out. I guess before I do that again I'll like to ask if using a torch could potentially damage the rim. Like I said, I did it that way before after seeing this video, but it made me pretty nervous.
I rarely throw in the towel, but with all four calling for a fight I might just surrender and have the shop pull the bearings.
Forgot to add that, yes, I do use a torque wrench on the axle.
@Rocket Scientist said "I snug mine up and call it good. The manual wants them so tight, I believe it crushes the spacer, which then stresses the bearings against the locating step."
You may be on to something, but I don't trust myself going by feel (with bikes ;-). If there's a torque setting that might be tight enough, but not too tight, I'm all ears.