Your method contradicts the FSM and as far as I can tell (at this point) makes no effort to center the knuckle. I get about 3 years per set of trunnion bearings, and that is about as often as I wish to have to work on the axle.
I have the bearing pre-load set. I know what the total shim stack needs to be to get the correct pre-load on the bearings. That part of the two step process has been done. Next is to center the knuckle so that the inner seal does not wear out prematurely and turn the Birf grease into soup.
The problem is that there is no way to center the knuckle. The best that it can get is 0.040" too low. I was hoping that someone who has done a lot of set-ups using the SST could tell me that either something is really wrong and where to look, or that it is common for them to be that far off and not to worry about it.
unless your housing is bent having the same "1 thick and 1 thin top and bottom" your knuckle will be centered
