Other steering problem on the 2008 Dodge RAM 1500
1 crash 1 injury 2 of the 46 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other steering problem gets reported
Owners of the 2008 Dodge RAM 1500 report other steering problem at a median of 67,500 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 miles, from 33 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 115,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 111,500 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
24% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,600 miles | 44,000 miles | 67,000 miles | 90,000 miles | 116,100 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,400 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 17 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2001, at a median of 45,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 165,000 miles.
By volume the 2006 carries the most reports, with 47; the 2008 has 46. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Was driving my 2008 dodge ram sxt pickup and while making a left turn on a main road at 40mph the steering wheel locked up. I could not control the vehicle and as the vehicle was crossing into the oncoming lane, applied brakes. The truck crossed the road and spun out on the grass on the opposite side of the road facing 180 degrees from direction of travel. The vehicle came to s a stop against an embankment and had minor damage. If another vehicle had been in the opposite lane this could have been a fatal accident. The vehicle is now at the dealer and I am awaiting a report. *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 dodge ram 1500. While driving 65 MPH the contact noticed that the steering wheel began to lunge forward and make a popping noise. The contact also noticed that the vehicle would sway in the opposite direction that the contact was turning the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the steering box was replaced, three months after the vehicle was repaired, the failure recurred. There were no prior warnings. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 13000. The current mileage was 21000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 dodge ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, the steering wheel began to vibrate and was very difficult to turn. The contact also stated that whenener stopped on an incline with the brakes engaged, the vehicle would surge forward. The vehicle was not taken to have the failures diganosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 58,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Also reported on the 2008 Dodge RAM 1500
Airbag inflator rupture
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Other fuel system problem
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Other suspension problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 46 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other steering problem happen on the 2008 Dodge RAM 1500?
Across 33 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 67,500 miles. A quarter were filed before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other steering problem on the 2008 Dodge RAM 1500?
46 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.7 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed