2017 Ram 1500 5.7 Steering Issues

[joshuamichael2014]

Hello,

I have a 2017 Ram 1500 5.7 Crew Cab with the EPS system. Recently, when it has gotten cold out, the power steering is very tough but only in certain increments of steering. For example, about every 1/5th of the time during a full 360 degree rotation of the steering wheel it feels very tough, like there is no power steering at all, but then it comes back for about 1/5th and keeps that cycle as you turn the wheel.

With all of that said, if I put it in my heated garage for an hour and let it sit in there at 65 degrees for an hour, it works fine. Perfectly normal. Does this just mean that the EPS rack is going out? I have checked the following things already:

- Fuses (both at battery and in fuse box)
- Power at the plug (12v) All Good
- Tie rods are all good, no issues there
- Steering column knuckle is rusty, but seems OK - Sprayed with penetrating lube anyways

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Daniel12]

EPS might be leaking and has some water intrusion which is freezing when it's cold? You should be able to open it up and see. There's an accessible cover on the front which requires a torx to open. Not sure what size

 

[Brandon-w]

Have you checked your steering shaft u joints? They can cause issues like this if they bind up in the cold. It's not serviceable but I had this issue. What I did was use a zip tie or a 90° pick to carefully pull open the u joint rubber dust boots and I soaked my u joints with Remington gun oil. I mean soaked, rotated the wheel worked it and did it again. My truck is 2015 and after I did this I never had the issue again.

 

[04fxdwgi]

Have you checked your steering shaft u joints? They can cause issues like this if they bind up in the cold. It's not serviceable but I had this issue. What I did was use a zip tie or a 90° pick to carefully pull open the u joint rubber dust boots and I soaked my u joints with Remington gun oil. I mean soaked, rotated the wheel worked it and did it again. My truck is 2015 and after I did this I never had the issue again.

Was just going to ask same question. I had an F150 that did that with dry steering shaft ujoints. Greased em up and problem vanished.

I used a grease gun needle tip and pumped full of waterproof marine grease. Different method, same results

 

[PdPuNOme]

I am in the steering shaft camp of being the culprit here. Went through very similar issues with my 2015 and a 2018. I ended up just buying used ones off 22 and 23 classics, felt safe enough they corrected the issue by then to save money on buying new.

 

[joshuamichael2014]

Thanks everyone!

I wanted to report back that it was indeed the steering shaft U-Joint. All I did was spray the hell out of it with penetrating oil and the problem has, so far, went away.

 

[PdPuNOme]

Thanks everyone!

I wanted to report back that it was indeed the steering shaft U-Joint. All I did was spray the hell out of it with penetrating oil and the problem has, so far, went away.

Hope it stays gone, for me it always came back over and over again. Sometimes within a block or two, other times a few weeks, but worth the try originally before replacing. It is not a hard job to do to swap in a replacement if it gets to that point for you.

 

[PA Ram]

Hope it stays gone, for me it always came back over and over again. Sometimes within a block or two, other times a few weeks, but worth the try originally before replacing. It is not a hard job to do to swap in a replacement if it gets to that point for you.

This is the route I'm going. Initially happened off and on and thought it was due to the cold. Then almost lost steering completely and sprayed the intermediate steering shaft and it was better for about 2 weeks. Now it just intermittently becomes difficult even if sprayed. I bought the part a few weeks ago,but held off installing and thought about sending it back,but then started being difficult again. I tow a 33ft camper so power steering is pretty necessary. I just dropped my camper off Sunday for inspection and it was acting up and picked it up today and was acting up again. Going to swap the part Friday or Saturday since I go camping next week. Hoping that all it is and not my rack going bad. Definitely seems mechanical.

 

[Indynick]

PA, what part are you going to replace?

 

[PA Ram]

PA, what part are you going to replace?

Lower intermediate steering shaft.

 

[PA Ram]

PA, what part are you going to replace?

Replaced the shaft today, seems much better,but time will tell. I go camping Thursday so that'll be a good test.

 

[Sc24]

Hello,

I have a 2017 Ram 1500 5.7 Crew Cab with the EPS system. Recently, when it has gotten cold out, the power steering is very tough but only in certain increments of steering. For example, about every 1/5th of the time during a full 360 degree rotation of the steering wheel it feels very tough, like there is no power steering at all, but then it comes back for about 1/5th and keeps that cycle as you turn the wheel.

With all of that said, if I put it in my heated garage for an hour and let it sit in there at 65 degrees for an hour, it works fine. Perfectly normal. Does this just mean that the EPS rack is going out? I have checked the following things already:

- Fuses (both at battery and in fuse box)
- Power at the plug (12v) All Good
- Tie rods are all good, no issues there
- Steering column knuckle is rusty, but seems OK - Sprayed with penetrating lube anyways

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hey! I had the same problem and everything I looked at lead me to believe it was the Rack. It ended up being the

Lower Intermediate Steering Shaft for 2014-2018 Ram 1500 - you may want to check into this.​

 

[sswartz400]

Hey, I have a 2017 with the failing EPS when cold and when the truck warms up it is fine. Is the lower intermediate steering shaft the fix for this issue?

 

[sswartz400]

Thanks everyone!

I wanted to report back that it was indeed the steering shaft U-Joint. All I did was spray the hell out of it with penetrating oil and the problem has, so far, went away.

Is your EPS still working fine after spraying the steering shaft u-bolt with PO. I have the same truck, same issue.

 

[Jeepwalker]

FWIW, my hummer last year had 'chugging' steering feel. Yes, it's hydraulic steering. BUT ...the steering shaft was pretty new. It sure felt like a bad rack. I did a lot of de-bugging and couldn't find the issue ....and ultimately replaced the rack with a new one. No-go. In that process I discovered the 2 year old steering intermediate shaft u-joint had gotten real stiff. That was the chugging as it turned. I removed and worked oil in it and yeah, that was the entire issue (bang head on brick wall!). You might unhook the intermediate shaft down low and rule any stiff u-joints or other steering action ...rule them out.


Being EPS, if it's not something like a U-joint, hard to say. Could be a slipping belt inside (replaceable) or some other issue like a failing control module (behind that square plate on the backside of the EPS). Electric motor inside flaking out. There are a bunch of youtube videos on them including on replacing the belt. Type in EPS on this site or google (forums) and there's a ton of posts which will come up.

Most owners don't have much success debugging the EPS and it usually comes down to biting the bullet on a new one ($$). But do some youtube searching and see if anything coincides with your issue.

 

[Indynick]

I purchased my 2017 1500 in January , and when the car was cold , the steering was stiff and jerky , but it was sometimes better if the Ram was run for a while , and then I parked it.

I squirting oil on it, like someone here suggested, and then drove it, and it was actually worse. But then, after a couple of trips around the block, it got smoother, and now it is very smooth.

I will eventually need to replace the intermediate shaft, but for now, I am happy.