2018 Ram 1500 Steering
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
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.
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.
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.
While driving the steering will lock up and not move at all at random times. I decided not to drive it anymore because I have a young daughter and was stuck at a left turning light for almost 20 minutes unable to move because my wheel wouldnt turn. Luckily it was at night and there was little traffic. I was told it is the rack and pinion that needs replaced. Its been a Recall for many RAM pickups from 2002-2020 but my vin # doesnt show any Recall but thats a Big coincidence to me.
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
Three times since January 2023, the steering has locked down while driving. The driver has had no control over steering momentarily. The latest incident caused the vehicle to strike a concrete pillar surrounding a stop sign in a parking lot.
The power steering stops intermittently with no warning lights. It becomes very hard to steer while driving.
Truck has a loss of power steering. No whining noise associated. This problem Comes and goes, however is now present at most times.
The contact owns a 2018 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the steering wheel inadvertently pulled to the left and then the right, causing the contact to momentarily lose control of the vehicle. Upon slowing down, the contact stated that the steering wheel was tight and maneuvering the vehicle was extremely difficult. The EPS warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the electric power steering however, the vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V812000 (Steering) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 115,000.
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.
On Sunday, Oct 1, 2023, I proceeded out of my driveway, when the warning lights came on and the steering failed, stranding me on the busy roadway. I was able to back onto my property again and fortunately the incident didn't result in a collision. The truck is at the dealership as I write this and I informed them that I want them to save all of the defective parts for me. The dealership's diagnosis is that the rack and pinion steering has failed at approx. 61,200 miles. The components have not been inspected, but will be available after the repair, as stated above.
Electric Power Steering failure with no cause. Power steering failed while driving on the highway.
steering is very tight and sometimes you cann't turn the vehicle..
Electric Power Steering (EPS) failure. If this had happened while driving there would have been no way to control truck. The dash read "Power Steering Unavailable Service Required". Dealer tested truck and said EPS unit would need replaced at a cost of $2,345 for just the part and would be at least 45 before they could get the part. This truck only has 55k miles on it.
2018 RAM 1500 eco diesel with LESS THAN 26,000 miles on it. My husband and I had a harrowing drive a couple weeks ago bc the power steering unit started to intermittingly cut out/fail (think hair pin turn on country roads at 55, you are CRANKING on the wheel bc power steering cut out, then halfway through the turn it decides to come back and now you are OVER steering). Again, we have less than 26k on this truck ((and it is BABIED)) so clearly this is a faulty part. We got it fixed (I have receipts), but per RAM the truck is "too old" thus "out of warranty" with no current recalls and thus my request I submitted to RAM to reimburse us for the faulty part was denied.
Intermittent loss of power steering. Steering fights driver input when turning in either direction, when straightening out from a turn & gradual road curves. Inspected by competent mechanic. EPS rack & pinion failing at 22,300 miles on vehicle. EPS serial # not affected by FCA recall
The contact owns a 2018 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 MPH, the power steering light suddenly illuminated and the message "Service Power Steering" was displayed. The contact was unable to turn the steering wheel in either direction. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer for service. No further information was available. The manufacturer was not yet notified. The failure mileage was 45,000.
STARTED OFF BY HAVING A TOUGH SPOT ONCE IN A WHILE TURNING MY STEERING WHEEL. NOW ITS TOTAL FAILURE ON AND OFF. NOT CONSISTENT, I CAN BE GOING 20 ,PH AND IT WORKS GOOD, THEN MY STEERING JUST FAILS. AT 60 MPH IT WORKS GREAT THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN IT FAILS. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. I HAVE ALMOST LOST CONTROL 3 TIMES. CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO EVEN START TO LOOK FOR THE PROBLEM. MADE TRAVELING OVER THE HOLIDAYS VERY DANGEROUS. IHAVE READ WHERE THERE ARE NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS OF THIS SAME ISSUE WITH OTHER 2018 RAM REBEL TRUCKS AS WELL AS OVER 1500 2019 RAM TRUCKS AS WELL.
1. Electric Power Steering (EPS) failure causes sporadic or no power steering. 2. I was driving when the steering was sporadic causing oversteering and then when it totally went out the vehicle the vehicle was very hard to steer. 3. Dealer has the truck now for diagnosis. This is a known component manufactures defect. 4. About 3 weeks before steering went out there was a clicking noise when turning. I contacted the dealer and scheduled an appointment. I spoke to a technician, at that time, and was told the noise was normal and no appointment was necessary. Appointment was subsequently canceled, 3 weeks later the failure occurred. Many of the blogs online show this issue to be a safety problem. Manufactures defect. Please address this issue it is a safety issue to everyone who has EPS.
Went to turn at a gas station and steering wouldn’t work steering faulty light came on and said to have power steering looked at
POWER STEERING FAILURE. POWER STEERING LOCKS UP INTERMITTENTLY, MORE SO WHEN MAKING A LEFT TURN. SERVICE POWER STEERING MESSAGE COMES UP IN DASH AND THEN DISAPPEARS AFTER A COUPLE SECONDS. THIS INCIDENT HAPPENED BOTH WHEN VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION MAKING A LEFT TURN IN AN INTERSECTION ALMOST CAUSING A COLLISION AND ALSO WHEN PARKED AND ATTEMPTING TO STEER LEFT ATTEMPTING TO DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM.
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Quick Summary
The 2018 Ram 1500 has 46 Steering complaints on file. 3 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.