Steering column or shaft failure on the 2011 Ford F-150
3 crashes 3 of the 9 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 steering column or shaft failure gets reported
Owners of the 2011 Ford F-150 report steering column or shaft failure at a median of 20,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 55,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 38th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 15,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 55,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 39,291 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
67% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17,309 miles | 20,000 miles | 22,000 miles | 56,000 miles | 56,600 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, 3 a crash is 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 $600–$2,500 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.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 21 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2014, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 1996 at 145,000 miles.
By volume the 1997 carries the most reports, with 37; the 2011 has 9. 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.
My f150 has been making popping feelings and noises that are resonating up through the steering column into the steering wheel. This is not only very annoyning, but it makes everyone that is having this same issue with their 2011 f150's wonder if it is a safety hazard. This could potentially become an accident waiting to happen. I have been to the ford dealer and they replaced the steering column and this did not fix the issue. Ford has not been responsive to this issue. *tr
I own a 2011 f-150, 5.0, crew cab, 4x4. I started noticing a popping or clinking noise coming from the steering column. The noise has been getting worst and is very annoying as well. I notice at lower speeds when driving down our gravel road. I typed this issue in as well on the f-150 forum and there are numerous post with same issue! Many are saying it has to deal with electric power assist steering. I will be taking it into the dealer, to hopefully get this issue resolved. I just hope that ford will step up and fix this issue. *tr
I was driving down my street and braked to pull into my driveway, after in my driveway I touched the accelerator (to get up the slight grade) and my truck went wide open throttle!! I mashed on the brake but the truck continued to accelerate uncontrollably and crashed into my brick home. Even after impact and me continuing to apply full brake it was still wide open throttle and burning out. I finally came to my senses and shut the ignition off and the stopped it. I had the truck towed to my local dealer as recommended by ford customer care rep. The dealership ran a diagnostics check and found nothing as well as tried to get it to duplicate the problem with no luck. I had a state trooper certified in downloading event recorder data do such to my truck. The data shows exactly what happened..but does not differentiate between the accelerator being pushed vs.the accelerator position as indicated. However, it does show service brake applied and continual acceleration at the same time which I can prove was not done by me! I have pictures of abrasions to my right shin and knee from the steering column and dash..my right foot was fully…
Also reported on the 2011 Ford F-150
Other powertrain problem
Other engine problem
Other steering problem
Other speed control problem
Other electrical problem
Other visibility problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 9 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 steering column or shaft failure happen on the 2011 Ford F-150?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 20,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 55,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is steering column or shaft failure on the 2011 Ford F-150?
9 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.0 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