grand caravan heads

I am in the process of replacing head gaskets on a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with the 3.3. All has gone absolutely perfect so far. Heads were pressure tested good and milled flat. I got the right head on no issues, but have never dealt with a rocker arm shaft like this. Its a one piece deal where the arms and bolts are all fixed to the shaft, and you just bolt down to the head. The question I have is how do you torque this? I went to the 17 ft lbs the manual stated, but because the head is attached, there is some force from the push rods that I feel might not make it an accurate reading. In the past I have just gone by feel and just went snug after I felt it seat. I may go to method, but I wanted to see how others went about this first.