After comparing the new and old seals all of the dimensions are exactly the same. The metal part is the same depth and the seal lip is the same distance from the face of the seal.

However, the inner diameter of the rubber part of the seal is about 2 mm smaller on the new seal. I think this means that when it's compressed against the axle it probably deforms such that the sealing lip would be further inboard than the larger diameter seal lip which is why it seems like the sealing lip is further inboard when installed.

That said the inner surface of my axle housing is gouged pretty badly in one spot which is probably why it was leaking. Looks like the last guy that replaced the seals hit it pretty good with whatever he used to pull the seals. I guess I'm going to put some silicone between the seal and the housing to try to remedy that. Should I hit it with some emery cloth to knock down the burrs? How should I apply the silicone? A thin layer on the outside of the seal? Or should I just put a thin bead along the seated edge of the seal after it's installed?

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I had a similar gouge that took me several rear axle seals to figure out. What I did was knock down any sharp or rough edge to it that would damage the new seal. Then I took Permatex gear oil rtv Amazon.com: Permatex 81182 Gear Oil RTV Gasket Maker, 3 oz.: Automotive (if you have toyota fipg for transmission pan gasket that works too) and smeared some where the axle seal mates with the axle housing and smeared a light coat on the outside edge of the axle seal as well. Installed and let cure. I didn't have the 24 hours of cure time recommended by Permatex so I let it cure for as long as I could before reassembling to drive home (it cured for about 3 hours). No leaks since then. Still need to redo my other side following this procedure, but my toyota parts guy is starting to recognize me for all the rear axle seals that I've been getting lol

per Timmy's new instructions, I also filled the outer lip of the axle type to seal mating with RTV as well as the inner lip to axle mating of the inner retainer ring. In my case, it was the axle shaft itself that was heavily gouged, looks like a previous replacement was cut instead of pressing off the retainers.

Here's what I did. I had this Dirko grey leftover from sealing the cam girdle on my Audi. Hit it with some emery cloth to take off the edges, filled in the gouges, smeared a little on the outside of the seal in the same area and installed. I didn't want to put it around the entire seal area because I didn't want to make it a bear to remove if it has to come out again. It was hard enough without any sealant on it.

Got the axles back and did the sharpie test. I'm really glad I had the machine shop flip the retainers. The seal line was only about 3mm from the inner edge of the polished surface. There was also 5mm of polished axle showing so I guess that's not a consistent rule of thumb. 4.5 mm would have been the center of the polished area which would have been ideal but I didn't want to take it back to the shop to have them try try back off the retainer. I feel like 3mm should be adequate.

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5mm is a ballpark figure. I'm now suggesting people press the inner retainer on with 4mm of polished axle showing first, do a sharpie test and then see if they need to press it on further to get the seal lip more centered on the polished shoulder of the retainer. The key to making this repair work is to verify a good mating of the seal and inner retainer by taking the time to do a sharpie or grease test. I like the sharpie test over the grease test because it's very clear with the sharpie test where the seal is riding and it's less messy.

3mm from the edge is fine. If a bearing was allowing that much movement to cause the seal to leak, the bearing is toast and you'd have to do the job anyway.

I haven't watched the progression in a while, since the grease test anyway, can you reference the sharpie test ?
thanks

Draw a sharpie line through the inner retainer parallel with the axle shaft, install axle, rotate a few times, remove axle shaft, check sharpie mark. I usually do several thick sharpie marks on the inner retainer. I also tighten at least 2 of the axle nuts holding the axle in when I do the test.

Yeah, what he said.