Thanks for the tips guys. Lugs are good, I torqued everything. Rotor is completely tight against the hub and I did wire wheel the mounting surface. Brake pedal feel is perfect - no sponginess, no veering. I did grease inside of the seal but I'll check and see if it got jammed against the spindle somehow.

I'm going to tear into it this weekend. The bearing slop is so minimal that I think just moving the adjuster a couple holes might take it out. If it doesn't feel right I'll get new bearings I guess.

I'm still baffled by the caliper bracket clearance because it's tight on BOTH the inside and outside edges. The ABS ring almost rubs on the inside edge and the rotor almost rubs on the outside edge. I'm wondering if it got dropped or warped somehow by the prior owner...unfortunately nobody sells just the bracket anymore. I'd have to buy a whole caliper from rockauto.