I test drove the 99 Ranger Stepside 3.0l 4x4 and when I had 4 high engaged and was pulling back into the parking space, with the wheels turned almost full, it didn’t want to drive forward. Like a ton of resistance. I had to push the gas pretty hard to make it move and if I let off the gas at all it would almost stop abruptly. Flat asphalt terrain. The problem did not happen in 2 wheel drive. That’s not normal right? Thoughts?

 

Yes, it's normal. When you're making a turn, each tire will try to rotate at a different RPM (because they're all taking paths that are different lengths), but they can't because they're physically locked to the drive train. This usually causes the vehicle to 'buck'. In your case, the difference in traction wasn't overcome by the power provided from the drive train.

In essence, you were driving with a ton of resistance between the tires and the road... much like trying to drive over a curb when you're right up against it.

 

So this would be different at higher speed yeah?

 

Well of course it would..just like a curb would jump quicker..well now I kind of feel like a noob. Only other issue seemed to be a fair amount of oil appearing to be leaking from the rear main…

 

At highway speeds you won't have the issue as the tires are all pretty much in line all the time. You aren't going to be turning the steering wheel 'hard over'.

 

This would happen less or more based on the traction and resistance.

Straight out of the 1998 Ford Literature:
4WD OR AWD OPERATION ONTHE ROAD
Basic operating principles
- Do not use 4WD on dry, hard
surfaced roads (except models
equipped with Auto 4WD or
AWD). This may damage the
drivelines and axles.
- Drive slower in strong
crosswinds which can affect the
normal steering characteristics
of your vehicle.
- Be extremely careful when
driving on pavement made
slippery by loose sand, water,
gravel, snow or ice.

The reference in the first point is that on dry pavement, all four tires have such good traction that it binds. Yes, it will happen at higher speeds. The key is that 4x4 should be used when traction is less and the tires are allowed to slip a bit and not bind.