This may sound like a dumb question. but I have the front end jacked up. Both front wheels are off the ground, the vehicle is in Park. I can spin the front passenger side tire by hand just fine, however the driver side tire, I can only spin by hand maybe a quarter of a turn before it stops

Is this normal?

This is a 2002 Ford Ranger Edge 4x4 Ext. cab. 4.0 Automatic

 

2002 Ranger 4x4s(2001 and up) have Live Axles, that means the front axles are locked to the wheels all the time

4x4 Rangers have OPEN front differentials
Which means one wheel will spin easily, but the other wheel will want to turn the drive shaft and transfer case chain drive when you spin it, so will have more resistance than the other wheel

You can test that by leaving wheels off the ground and shifting transfer case to 4WD then seeing if the drivers side wheel is now locked "in Park", it should be

 

Very well explained. Thank you.

I put it into 4x4 while off the ground and you are correct, now the drivers front tire is locked.

Thank you.

 

What if I have the front end off the floor still, i blocked the rear wheels in place.

Now I shift it into Neutral. Would I be allowed to spin the drivers wheel freely by hand?