About 2 days ago I bought a 1992 Cherokee (I6 4.0L, AW-4, 4x4) for $700. Yes, it runs. I drove it 30 miles home from where I bought it. However, it is not mint. It is currently missing a rear drive shaft (I drove it in 4H so the front two wheels were driving it)...and something is making the car jerk, I think its the transmission. On the 30 mile trip home I did not feel the jerking. However whenever I take it out now, the car jerks every so often. It feels like I am running over a 1 inch metal pipe on the road. It not a constant or long jerk either, just a short bang. Sometimes it happens once every ten minutes, other times every 3 seconds for a 20 second period. It sounds and feels terrible. Could this jerking be because I am running in 4H without a rear drive shaft, because it may be dripping oil from where the drive shaft should be and needs more tranny oil, or because the gears/synchros/clutch/etc. are bad?

Thanks in advanced,
Timeshare

 

oh my god...

 

Start with the basics, check your suspension and make sure nothing is loose/broken/missing.
Get a new driveshaft and install it, take that poor thing out of 4x4. (Just hit the local junkyard)
Top off your transfercase fluid (Yes that is the T/case you see leaking, not the transmission)

 

Welcome to the forum

There is a reason the rear drive shaft was taken out, and it's probably not good.
Most likely an issue in the transfer case or the rear diff

 

Ummmmm, I don't even know where to begin!
Yes, it is leaking fluid because the shaft isn't there, i agree, go to junkyard and get a shaft before anything else.
After you install, CAREFULLY put in gear in 2wd and see what it does.

 

Im just going to stick with my initial "jaw dropped" expression every time I read the OP's first post

I simply imagine a Cherokee with square tires bouncing down the road.. I don't know why.. it fits that description