Ok, I am having some weird symptoms with this problem, and I need some help narrowing down the possible culprits. I have a 1998 cherokee limited with 140K miles. This started two weeks ago, and until today was pretty intermittent. This morning on the way to work, it happened at least 6 times, compared to maybe one time like normal. The first symptom that appeared was a "bucking" when moving. it was usually right after a bump in the road, but it felt like a car was bumping me from behind and it jolted the car(kinda felt like the transmission slipping into gear). That was happening for a week or so, then one morning I went through an intersection with a dip in it, and when I came through the other side of the intersection and tried to accelerate, an awful grinding gear noise came from underneath the shifter and I lost the ability to accelerate. I let off the accelerator and the noise slowly dissipated with a rotational pattern ( kind of like the wheel from wheel of fortune, but louder and faster), noise went away, and I continued to drive. I am dreading the idea that this might be the transmission. I checked ATF levels and all was good. any ideas are appreciated. thanks

 

Does it only happen under power, neutral or in a certain gear or speed? Mabye check your tcase and make sure all gears are working correctly and not wanting to pop out..?

 

it has only happens while I am moving at speeds from 25-70 mph, and I have always been in 2wd and OD on the shifter. how can I make sure the tcase is not popping out? is there a tutorial for this? I have had to remove the front drive shaft and remove and replace the U joints and lube it up, but that was a year ago. should I take off the front drive shaft and see if that fixes it?

 

Here's a weird idea:

Get under there get your hands dirty and see if there's anything obviously loose!