There are 50 owner-reported steering complaints for the 2017 Ram 1500in NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Power Steerin EPS went out, causin loss of control of truck
The contact owns a 2017 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at 45 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality with the steering assist warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed. The dealer associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V198000 (POWER TRAIN); however, the VIN was not associated with the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 177,000.
EPS rack and pinion failing at 140,000km. Steering gets tight when driving long distances and at higher speeds. Intermittent loss of power steering happening daily. This is super concerning safety wise as this happened when i was on the highway and could have been a serious accident. Not to mention I have to pay over $4000.00 to have this repaired.
Electronic Power Steering (EPS) failure resulting in loss of control of vehicle.
Electronic Power Steering just stopped all of a sudden while I was going up the mountain into North Carolina that almost caused an accident the only reason it didn’t is because of the pull off right after the curve I was going through when I lost all steering! With the truck already in the pull off I stopped to see if I had lost a serpentine belt unaware this Ram is equipped with the EPS System. I had no phone service luckily someone came by when they did because of the snow storm seeing vehicles was few and far between! After letting the truck sit for about 20mins with the positive cable unhooked I started the truck and had steering again. So the nice gentleman that stopped said he would follow me to the nearest cell service area so I could call someone, No warning light the first time at all the second time the only warning light was service ABS system which shouldn’t affect having power steering. So I repeated the steps as I did the first time and had steering again the service ABS System light was gone and we made it 11 Minutes up the mountain before it happened again only this time all kinds of service lights came on all at once, Service Electronic brake system,Service ANTILOCK BRAKE SYSTEM, SERVICE ELECTRONIC SHIFTER, SERVICE POWER STEERING SYSTEM, traction control was disabled which isn’t good in snowy weather conditions and i had no choice but to continue 3mins to the next town with no power steering no traction control and all these other warning lights because it wouldn’t fix it anymore temporarily by in hooking the positive battery cable and waiting 20 minutes which I attempted 3 times with no success once we reached the town I was able to call and have someone come pick me and my truck up and brought a scan tool I cleared the codes only for them to come right back as soon as I would crank the truck! Had it professionally scanned with same results! Very dangerous issue! Yes it can be inspected yes professionally inspected $2300part only not labor to!
1Rear end shifted to passenger side 3 in 2. The intermittent shaft made the steering wheel over turn over half a turn. 3 manifold bolts replaced but snapped again. Fuel pump went out. Tailgate has opened multiple times. 120 k seems unfit to drive wheel studs drivers rear broke off 1 by 1 till there were 2 left
The contact owns a 2017 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, several unknown transmission codes were displayed on the instrument panel, and the vehicle went into LIMP Mode. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that a transmission flush was needed. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted, and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the power steering rack had short-circuited and needed to be replaced. The contact researched and was made aware of an unknown NHTSA recall; however, the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 140,455.
Randomly received a “service power steering” message on dash. RAM dealership is saying I need a whole new rack and pinon.
The contact owns a 2017 Ram 1500. The contact stated that after restarting the vehicle, the message "Service Power Steering" was displayed. The vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The contact restarted the vehicle several times to correct the failure, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 19E077000 (Steering); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was 24,487.
I was driving on the highway and the power steering in truck disappeared and the warning light turned on. Lost the power steering.
The contact owns a 2017 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the service transmission warning light illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the residence. The contact used a portable diagnostic tester to diagnose the vehicle and retrieved DTC: U0001 and U0402. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The contact was informed that an error code had been received, which indicated low voltage. The contact stated that the independent mechanic did not understand what the low voltage meant. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The failure reoccurred. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with steering control module failure. The contact was informed that the steering control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure was a known failure with the vehicle. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 140,100.
The electric power steering system has now completely failed and the steering is fully locked/stiff at all times. The vehicle cannot be safely driven or operated. The issue began as intermittent loss of power steering assist and progressed to total failure without warning. Steering now requires extreme force and is effectively unusable. This creates a serious safety hazard, especially if it occurs while driving or turning. The vehicle is currently undrivable and unsafe. The vehicle has not yet been inspected but is available for inspection upon request.
While driving the Electric Power Steering Unit failed. would not steer. maneuvered vehicle to safe area; turned off vehicle; waiter about 5 minutes; vehicle started and steering reset to a usable steering. Drove home and parked. Next day started vehicle; steering would not work. This incident happened while driving. Hazardous to all around. In the past two months started vehicle and tried to steer with no results. Used a system diagnostic device to find codes--reported that EPS unit failure. Talked with dealership and Manufacturer, both stated that there was not a recall for the Vin in question. (Ref. NHTSA- Recall-----VB9-NHTSA-077). They both said the vin number was not in the recall. Vehicle has not been inspected by manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or any other agency; only by current owner and family members. No warning of this happening was seen with this system failure prior to it happening. A message appeared in the dash system after this happened stating "check power steering"; not prior to the failure. No accident happened, no injuries occurred, no reports to police or insurance were made for this system failure. Contacted local dealership and manufacture of this failure, both stated this would be an "Out-Of-Pocket expense". Because of financial hardship, nothing has been done with this vehicle to date. It would require towing and repair of failure.
Truck suddenly lost power, and no power steering assistance at all. Had it checked out by mechanic and mechanic stated a new Rack and Pinion was needing costing over 2 Grand.
Our vehicle was a 2017 Ram 1500 crew Cab 4x4. We’re getting near to Goldfield Nevada. I saw this town to my left when I remarked about the town to my wife, we were going the speed limit of 70 mph about 2PM in the afternoon than all of a sudden steering went erratic, twisting and turning us all over the highway to strong for me to hold with no warning lights, Genie yelled out what is going on, I slammed on the brakes and the steering forced us off the road and rolled our vehicle close to two time over. My wife and I escaped with bruises and small cuts. Backs still hurt. I just had spent over 8500.00 on services including a new computer timing ring replacement new intake manifold and new ventilated brakes , tires had over 92% tread on them upgraded wheels I could not control the steering at all. All I could do was slam the brakes down trying to stop all of it and come to a halt. Steering twisted us all over the highway. I left a quite a stretch a rubber on the highway as we left the roadway and hit the loose gravel dirt and flipped over into a rocky ditch. This totaled our vehicle my wife and I had to be extricated through the front windshield and by a miracle did not need to go to the hospital. I’ve been in touch with [XXX] at Progressive. The vehicle was towed to Tonopah NV we have pictures that we sent to [XXX] at Progressive. I told [XXX] the brain box needs to be preserved along with the brake system for further investigation. I have learned now through my research as there is a problem with this type of electronic steering system. This vehicle types has to cause major accidents and an ongoing lawsuit. I’ll be contacting attorneys to let him know what happened and I know you need to know what happened also because the ongoing problems with these models 2013 through 2018 with the EPS. Sincerely [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Lost all power steering.
Electric Power Steering failed
Sudden loss of power steering first occurred in early 2025. Truck was towed to nearby auto shop and it was deemed that the eps system had failed. Geico deemed I was not at fault and that it was likely due to moisture getting in the system. The steering rack and pinion was replaced with insurance and then in January 2026, the same issue occurred again despite not throwing any previous check engine light codes.
Electric power steering failure. (EPS) the Eapas system has failed and now it’s causing my steering to be extremely rough and almost impossible to drive. I have now taken it to a Dodge/Ram dealership and they have confirmed EPS failure on my truck. This happened while I was driving trying to make a turn, almost caused me to get hit but luckily that did not happen.
loss of EPS, no the vehicle has not been inspected yet, no prior symptoms . drove vehicle to store and parked in parking lot, when returned to vehicle, no power steering with warning lamps
Showing 1–20 of 50 complaints
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026