Alright, so after waiting for inner axle seals for over two weeks (people kept sending me the wrong ones) I just went to put the axle all together.
When pressing on the carrier bearings, I added 0.005" shims for the carrier bearing pre-load. I just went to put in the carrier, expecting to have ot beat it in, but I was able to put it in with only my hands. WTF? apparently pressing on the bearings compressed the shim packs a little.
Now, I ran a pattern and checked everything, it all looks good. I know I need to get new bearings and do this again, but how bad is it to run with the bearing preload not so tight?