Happy New Years all.

So I was driving on the freeway in the jeep. Doing about 65. Hear a loud winning noise and think it's a car or Harley around me. Look around no car or Harley around. So it has to be me. Move over to exit and the sound gets louder and louder. Get to the bottom of the off ramp while stopping all I hear is a grinding, popping then I stop suddenly and almost fly through the windshield.

Now the jeep won't move. Give it some gas back tires start spinning. My nephews get out try to push, no go. I decide top throw it into 4h. Starts to roll forward, able to get it across intersection into parking lot but the popping and grinding is super loud. Haven't really taken anything apart at the moment. Any ideas where to start?

 

Look at the front unit bearings and diff.

 

Pull your front drive shaft and see if it will move.

With both front tires off the ground see if you can turn them.

 

Haven't pulled the front DS, but had the front wheels off the ground and they did spin

 

Can you feel the grinding in the steering wheel, floorboard, or seat?

Is this a manual transmission or auto? [4th gear?]

Edit: Disregard transmission question, I see in your profile you have an AW4 tranny.

 

I had to leave for an emergency so other than getting front wheels up and spinning it didn't do much more. When I did soon the wheels it didn't feel smooth. If I spun it and kept my hand on the tire you can feel a spot where it wasn't doing smoothly. Don't know if that's normal