01 rodeo started sounding like an electric motor winding out

My Rodeo began about a month or so ago to sound like an electric motor was winding out when I accelerated. Now all of a sudden the car revs in the middle of acceleration and it feels like there's no drive train then suddenly it grabs and starts moving again. There is also a shuddering in the rear occasionally as though the back tires were spinning on the center line of a 2 lane highway. Just had the range selector switch replaced about 4 months ago but it doesn't seem like the same problem I was having when it was replaced as the gear indicator light on the dash now align with the gear selector knob. Has the tranny finally given up the ghost at 175k or could it be something simpler and cheaper.???