97 5 Spd TJ Clicking only in reverse? ANy Ideas kinda worried... :$

[FrZt B1te]

Ok so about three days ago I was driving through some pretty deep snow with my TJ, the path came to a stop so i had to reverse out. It kept veering off the tracks so i had to pull forwards and reverse over and over and continue pushing backwards through the deep snow (which i had to give it quite a bit of gas at sum points to keep pushing through) till i could turn around and ever since then when i reverse my tranny or something makes a strange ticking or clicking noise... any ideas :$??

[Zombie]

I like the voting you have there!

[Tinkerer]

I voted 2

[Zombie]

I voted for one, I really thought that it was the more likely case given what we know about how tj's work, but it could depend on if it is a rubi or not

[TL-Iguana]

Im gonna go with 2. But now im confused. Says total voters 6, but 4 and 4? I always thought that added up to 8. But then again, I do drive an XJ so its probably just me that isnt getting it..

[Immortal]

2 of us voted for both.... as we were allowed to vote for up to 2 choices

[TL-Iguana]

Great! Thanks for that Trev. I needed to make sure it wasn't just me I guess thats a plus for us XJ guys then. They don't click in reverse. Must be a TJ thing.

[FrZt B1te]

Ok the other day i was driving in some deep snow, had to reverse back through alot of it then afterwards since then my TJ makes a clicking noise when reversing but no other gears... Any ideas ?? And ya i just realized i screwed up and originally made this as a poll so seriously now... Anyone able to help me out ?

[Tinkerer]

Have you checked the obvious.... something stuck in the driveshaft(s), wheels, brakes etc.?  I've beat my 04 Rubi like a rented mule and it may have various issues, but no clicking when backing up except that time when the Honda was trying to blow it's horn 'cuz it was stuck under the back bumper and only the horn relay worked anymore... 

Does it do it when on stands?  Do you feel any "clicking" when rotating the wheels by hand? Does it only do it when reversing while turning, or straight as well? Is it a metallic or plastic click? Is your park brake completely off, or is it partly held on with packed snow holding pressure on the cables? Could it be your park brake adjusting, ie: does it click only once when beginning to reverse, or does it keep clicking as you keep reversing?

I'd probably go visit Lemon-Aid Jay if I couldn't figure it out myself.

[FrZt B1te]

I just briefly looked underneath didnt see anything obvious stuck anywhere, and the sound is kinda like a metal grinding or rubbing noise. I have not had it up on stands but the sound only happens when Iam in the reverse gear, if i roll down a hill in reverse in neutral there is no noise but as soon as I put it into reverse and start backing up it clicks routinely, and continues as long as im backing up the faster I go the faster the clicking gets and the noise still happens if im in reverse with the clutch engaged and rolling backwards and that is the only gear it does it in since i was in the snow... all other gears are fine and even with the clicking it still reverses fine except for the noise.

[Tinkerer]

My thought is chipped gear, but I'm by no means an expert on these transmissions (last standards I worked on a bunch were from 1972 'Cudas).