when i am in low and i left off the gas something makes a ratcheting noise. what is it and how do i fix it.

 

This is an excerpt from an old post:

In 2WD or 4WD and in low range only, I could go above 10MPH, let off the throttle quickly, and hear a loud clicking sound from the transmission area. You could feel the vibrations if you touched the shift lever **** when the clicking occurred. If I pushed forward on the shift ****, the clicking was greatly reduced. I looked in the service manual and I think the prescribed method of setting up the shift linkage is inadequate and I believe that is why so many units need to be adjusted properly. It relies on the positioning of an arm on a splined post by lining up two marks, and then by measuring a gap between the shift lever and the shift guide while in the neutral position. My unit had the arm slightly out of sync with the splined shaft with respect to the two alignment marks. It looked like you had to choose between being off to the right or left based on the splines positions on the shaft and arm. I left the arm/post as it was and shifted into neutral. Then I turned the linkage rod, after loosening the locknuts on each end(one had righthand threads and the other has lefthand). If I set it to the spec in the service manual, I could ride it in low and get it to click. I turned it a few turns at a time in both directions until all gear selections were positive and it would no longer click in low. I think I effectively shortened the linkage a slight amount which was indicated by the fact that pushing forward on the shift **** was helping the problem.