AMC Model 35 Rear Differential Master Overhaul Kit

This is the full master overhaul kit for the AMC Model 35 rear axle, USA Standard part number ZK M35. It carries everything that has to be replaced when the diff comes apart: carrier bearings and races, pinion bearings and races, pinion seal, a complete shim kit, ring gear bolts, pinion nut, crush sleeve, and the oil baffles and slingers where the housing uses them. Bearings are Koyo, not no-name stock.

Fitment is the AMC Model 35 rear differential as used under Jeep Wrangler YJ and TJ 1984-2006, Jeep Cherokee and Comanche 1986-1992, Jeep Grand Cherokee 1993-1998, Grand Wagoneer 1993, and AMC Hornet 1968-1987. If you are regearing, swapping in a locker, or chasing a howl that came back after a used-carrier swap, this is the kit that goes in with it.

On the bench: press the old carrier bearings off, use the supplied shim pack to set pinion depth against your pattern, then set carrier preload with the side shims. Do not reuse the crush sleeve or the pinion nut. Run the pattern check with marking compound before you torque anything down for the last time, and set the pinion nut to spec by rotating torque, not by the impact gun. The Model 35 is a small-carrier axle and it does not forgive a sloppy preload setting.

Most Model 35 failures start as pinion bearing whine on decel or a leaking pinion seal that ran the oil down. Replacing one bearing and leaving the rest of the 200,000-mile hardware in place is how the noise comes back in a season, which is why this ships as a complete set rather than piece parts.