got everything out, set up, pinion with setup bearings in - the only shims that came with install put me over the oem shim amount (.030) closest i could get was .032 which didnt seem like alot, but after getting it all together the pattern shows the pinion to close.
the only shims it came with were like .0210, .0165, .0110, .0110 .0110 so im stuck at .032 or .0275ish which i think is a little too small. luckily amazon has a shim kit with 1day delivery so hopefully itll show up early enough i can get something done
the paint or whatever came with the install kit sucks ass, and not enough locktite imo for all the ring gear bolts i used very sparingly and still was scraping the thing on the last couple bolts
backlash was right on the edge of the low side(.005/.006ish spec is .006-.010), but moving the pinion away should loosen the backlash up so ill try those same shims with the new pinion shims before changing