When I removed the 4.10:1 ratio gears someone put in for the correct 3.54:1 gears, I noticed that the right bearing housing was missing a chip out of it.
Someone really forced the carrier into (or out of) the housing. It was in so tight that even with a spreader it was hard to remove. The carrier bearings were a bit discolored too from too much pre-load.
I did the setup bearings too, but they just get you close, once the real bearings are pressed on, it adds to the pre-load. Same with the pinion height, need to set it slightly low with the setup bearings so when the pressed on bearing expands the pinion come up to the correct height.
The pinion pre-load needs to be shimmed for the correct turning torque when there is at least 250 ft/lbs torque on the pinion nut, so you need a yoke holder and large torque wrench. A dial type in/lb torque wrench works good for measuring the pre-load.
Because the housing was slightly damaged where the carrier was forced in, I replaced the cap bolts with ARP studs too.
I used the carrier shims that go between the carrier and bearing. The clamshell style bearing puller works good to remove the bearings without damaging them.
On the pinion, I used the large diameter type shim between the case and bearing race for pinion height.
Pretty easy to have over $1,000 in tools to do a differential.