Power steering intermittently stops working while driving.

- Evans, GA, USA

While driving the power steering stopped working causing the vehicle to become very difficult to steer. Fortunately this happened while traveling in a straight line and I was able to maintain control of the vehicle, but if it had happened in a curve, or leading into a corner, it would have been difficult to maintain lane control. After letting the vehicle sit for 8 hours, I was able to start the vehicle and drive it a short distance before the fault reoccurred. The vehicle sat for two days and after a few minutes of driving the power steering went out again. All fuses on the power connections test as properly functioning. There is a recall covering RAM 1500 trucks from 2013 - 2019 for this exact problem definition, but multiple RAM dealerships that I have contacted state my vehicle does not fall under the recall (per VIN). The NHTSA needs to investigate this complaint and hold RAM accountable to fix the known issue on all RAM trucks. It is not a matter of if, but a matter of when. Loss of power steering can lead to a serious accident. My wife or daughter would not have been able to turn the vehicle had this occurred while they were operating a vehicle in a turn.

- Oxford, AL, USA

Electric power steering rack and pinion failed during Hurricane Helene leaving my wife, [XXX], my mother-in-law, and myself stranded on the side of the road. Thankfully it failed while we were stopped waiting to cross a flooded bridge rather than while driving down the road. Truck was towed after sitting for 2 weeks. Rack and pinion was disassembled and inner belt that connects the electric motor to the steering gear was found to be destroyed. Research shows that electric power steering issues are not uncommon on Ram 1500 trucks manufactured since 2013. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Vilas, NC, USA

Electronic rack and pinion failed with 128,922 miles. From what I have read online that is too low of mileage for electrical rack failure.

- Edinburg, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2018 Ram 1500. The contact stated when he first started the vehicle he observed that a red steering wheel with an exclamation point was flashing on the instrument cluster. The contact stated that when he had shifted the vehicle into drive (D) and was turning the steering wheel to drive onto a street onto the street the steering wheel was locked. The contact turned the vehicle off and on several times and was able to regain power steering functionality. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but was now an ongoing failure. The red steering wheel warning was no longer flashing as was constantly illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the power steering gear and a printed circuit card needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact had researched on line and related the failure to manufacturer recall number: VB9 - Electric Power Steering Gear (Steering) The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 77,825.

- Tarentum, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2018 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and turning the steering wheel to the left or the right, the power steering functionality was inoperable. The contact needed to use both hands to turn the steering wheel. The steering wheel would continuously turn in the opposite direction. The steering wheel was extremely difficult to turn. The service power steering message was displayed. The contact viewed a video regarding the lower steering shaft u joint. The contact used a tester and checked the fuses. The contact called the local dealer and was informed that a diagnostic test was needed and that the repair would be an out-of-pocket expense. Additionally, the contact was informed that the vehicle was out of warranty and there was no recall associated with the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 99,899.

- Pennellville, NY, USA

While driving down the highway I lost my power stearing. The power stearing keep going in and out from 10 mph to 50 all speeds.

- Port Norris, NJ, USA

On 07/11/2024 while driving my 2018 RAM Ecodiesel at highway speeds, a warning light came on that said "Service Power Steering" and my electronic power steering (EPS) completely stopped working. This caused an extremely unsafe situation as I was traveling at roughly 65mph in moderate traffic and had to perform an evasive maneuver to keep from colliding with the vehicle next to me and pull my vehicle to the side of the road. I have an appointment with a local RAM dealer today 07/15/2024. Vehicle available for inspection upon request.

- South Bend, IN, USA

Sudden and complete loss of the electric power steering system. As I was entering a corner the steering wheel felt like it was almost locked, Incredibly hard to steer and barely managed to stay on the road. Had I been going any faster I could have been seriously injured or crashed into other drivers. Unable to fix vehicle as well, the steering rack is unservicable and on national backorder.

- Detroit Lakes, MN, USA

The contact owns a 2018 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while in reverse(R), he observed a loud noise emanating from the engine compartment. Additionally, the steering wheel failed to move as needed. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that that the steering gear needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 23,000.

- Monmouth Junction, NJ, USA

In June of 2023, I was driving home and the vehicle became unresponsive, but still powered on. I was able to steer it partially to the side of the road. The gas pedal was unresponsive, all electrical was unresponsive and it also would not turn off. I called my husband, when he arrived about 20 minutes later we were finally able to turn off the truck, but electrical was still unresponsive so the windows would not roll up. I had just gotten off the freeway, about a mile, and was lucky to be in a residential area or I would have been unable to drive on the freeway. This is a major safely issue and I also had my 9 year old daughter in the truck with me. No warning messages or any symptoms prior to the problem/failure. We called and had it towed to our local trusted mechanic, Gray's Tire and Auto. It took about a month for Gray's to figure out the problem. They were also in conversations with the local RAM Dealer who did not know how to fix the problem. It ended up being recall [XXX] that was the issue. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

The rack and pinion steering system has to be replaced on this 2018 Dodge Ram 1500 truck for the second time with less than 80,000 miles on the truck. The steering is very loose and it is hard to keep the truck from weaving while traveling down the highway which makes it very unsafe to drive at high speeds. There are numerous complaints about this issue on these trucks, and there is a recall on other heavy duty Dodge trucks but not this model but there should be a recall. This part will cost over $3,000 to replace, that's over $6,000 dollars for this truck in less that 80,000 miles and 6 years old. This is totally unacceptable for a truck this costly. Dodge Must do something to resolve this issue once and for all. Thank you for your attention to this potentially deadly issue, it will be just a matter of time before numerous accidents will happen because it is unaffordable to fix this problem every 3 years. The part is warrantied for only 2 years but the failure starts happening after that time frame and continues to get worse. My family members wont even drive this truck because of it being so unstable on the road. Please seriously consider this matter as a priority as there are so many of these trucks on the road. Something has to be done very soon. Thank you.

- Holland, MI, USA

Truck has zero warning lights, zero visible issues, nothing is "wrong" with the truck. However, the truck runs horribly. It is terrifying to drive. Anything over 35mph is scary. It drives like the back wheels are about to come out from under it. The truck violently shakes. Sometimes it accelerates, sometimes not, randomly downshift, random upshifts, random power loss, randomly the breaks stop working. The radio has became such a problem that not only can I not use the radio, i cant use the navigation, back up camera, the apps, climate control, settings, nothing in the control unit. Cant even update it because it wont stay on one screen long enough, nothing. The unit bounces around from one tab to another. Its confusing the trucks computer system and has reset itself while on a lift getting serviced. The transmission is running hot, the cooling fans don't know if they should be on or off because the radio unit changes all the controls so quickly. The volts on the dash are always at or about 3/4 of the way up and continuously bounce because of the system always changing. I have 52 transmission codes because the system is so confused but no one will touch it because its an 8 speed and not serviceable. And all the components are working.... they just do not work together. There has been several recalls for this make and model but all for the diesel, I believe it goes further then just that.

- Plainfield, IN, USA

The contact owns a 2018 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while her husband was driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle lost power functionality and was difficult to steer. The contact stated that the failure almost caused two accidents. The contact's husband was able to avoid the accidents and drove the vehicle to a safe location and parked the vehicle. The contact's husband turned the vehicle off and restarted the vehicle and the vehicle was driven to the residence. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the contact was informed that the system had reset itself and the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact also stated that the vehicle was scheduled for another diagnostic appointment in several days. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to have another diagnostic test performed. The failure mileage was approximately 64,000.

- Naoma, WV, USA

The contact owns a 2018 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the electronic power steering failed, causing the steering wheel to be very difficult to turn in either direction. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure and a service appointment was scheduled. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 200,000.

- Blairsville, PA, USA

Power steering was intermittently working for a period of time. One day while driving the power steering failed entirely. Was able to get the vehicle to a RAM dealership where it was confirmed that the entire electric power steering rack had failed and needs to be replaced. Parts are on back order with no anticipated delivery date. Part order was placed a month ago and still no updates.

- Greenbelt, MD, USA

1. Electronic power steering rack and pinnion and the control module on the rack for power steering. Yes vehicle is available for inspection. 2. While driving 100km (62miles)/hr on a highway lost all steering control and was forced to hit the ditch to avoid a roadway curve and oncoming traffic. Brakes functioned but steering did not. Putting my families lives and others at risk of a vehicle collision. No injuries were sustained. 3. Steering control issues has been confirmed by a dealership and mechanic shop. 4. Unknown if it has been inspected by authorities generically. My vehicle has not been inspected other than by dodge and an independent service provider. 5. After power steering failed, check engine dash light has come on, not allowing command start or other functions to be used. Dash does not have any messages and had to have code read by dealership to find steering control failure. Was advised that dodge rams up to 2017 have had the exact same recall for ower steering failures. 2018s should be investigated for the power steering failures as well.

- Lang , AK, USA

Cam Shaft (RECALL) sensor failure / tone wheel per the dealership. Truck lost all power descending off a mountain / steep grade. Lost steering, brakes, engine power. The vehicle has only been inspected by the dealership. Truck will not start, even have installing new parts. It was towed in to the dealer on 12/2/23. I am not able to get a solid answer on what needs to be done. Communication has been very poor on the entire situation.

- Latrobe, PA, USA

My power steering failed Yes available for inspection Power steering would lock up driving down the road which put my life and everybody around me in danger. The warning light didn-??t come on until steering completely failed

- Boulder, CO, USA

While driving down the road the service power steering and service ABS notifications appeared on the instrument cluster and the power steering stopped working. It felt as though the wheels turn when this happened and the steering wheel wouldn-??t move. This caused a loss of control and the vehicle left the road coming to rest in the ditch. This resulted in severe damage to the front suspension, axles, steering linkage, and the bottom of the engine. The vehicle was not drivable and had to be towed.

- Wadena, MN, USA