I apologize in advance for my lesser knowledge, im new to the jeeping thing.

Took my 99 XJ sport into some mud pits and knocked some sort of vacuum hose off my front differential. It was hanging down from the body, so i looked into it and it needs to be tucked up into the body with a cap on it.
Tucked it back up, and then got back onto the road in 2wd, and it wouldnt shift past 2nd gear (automatic transmission) so i pulled off the road. After a bit, tried it again and it drove fine. Got back home, and now it lurches everytime i shift from park to drive or reverse, and 4wd sputters and is pretty unstable. Im pretty freaked out by it.

Thanks for any help in advance.

 

Sounds like the front differential breather hose to me. Shouldn't have caused you an issue but it's worth checking the condition of your front and rear axle fluid after playing in the mud.

What do you mean by 4wd sputters? Have you taken a look under the Jeep and looked for anything obvious? Broken u-joints on the driveshafts and front axleshafts?

How deep of mud were you in?

 

Im definitely going to replace the fluid, i bought some on the way home.
i checked underneath, and the driveshaft does give a good amount of rotation when its in neutral. not sure if the u-joints are broken, but i ordered some anyways since they havent been replaced in who knows how long. didnt notice damage on axleshafts.
mud was between 1-maybe 2.5 feet. ive done this trail before and had no trouble. and it wasnt thick mud, basically water with some sand at the bottom.

 

Transfer Case linkage out of whack, maybe?

 

Took it out around town in 2wd today, ran alright, still clunked going from park to drive and reverse, but not as bad. Light sputtering/change of rpm without applying gas (not by much though, usually runs 750-800, was dancing above and below but never idled out). almost seems like an oxygen sensor/map sensor issue. is there anything that could affect everything ive mentioned and cause this? or am i just extremely unlucky?

 

If the U joints are ok...
try greasing up the slip yoke.

 

That requires noggin pokin on the OP's part......