I am planning on replacing the pinion bearings and am looking for advice/experience from others.

Having read through the workshop manual multiple times I am curious how you measure accurately the actual distance for the end of the pinion without having the special shop tool referred to.

I have not removed the old bearing so the current position should be correct.

I was thinking of making a jig and measuring the distance to the end of the pinion from a fixed point with the old and new bearings, whatever the difference, plus/minus is what will be applied to the shim thickness.

Any help in this area is appreciated.