It seems that my 96 Ram 1500 will shift into four wheel and the light will come on. I can feel the difference when in 4L but when I get stuck in snow and put it in 4H or 4L either one, still only the back two wheels spin but not all four. Am I missing something? I'm used to when the 4 wheel is put into gear all the tires normally spin.

 

If you have open differentials, the tires with the least amount of traction will spin. In 4x4, that means you could have one rear wheel and one front wheel spin.