Other steering problem on the 1997 Ford Ranger
3 crashes 2 injuries 5 of the 16 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.
Only 4 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When other steering problem gets reported
There are 16 reports of other steering problem on the 1997 Ford Ranger, 4 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 12th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 80,500 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 and 2 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 9 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2009, at a median of 1,000 miles, and latest on the 1999 at 150,000 miles.
By volume the 1997 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
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.
Bolts which hold the steering sector to the frame all broke or snapped. I was lucky that I was sitting in a parking lot and started to turned the steering wheel, there was a snap and I was unable to turn the wheels of the truck a 97 ford ranger. I sent an email to for on january 28, 2003 about this item and they have not responded, the tracking id is kmm2029449c0km case id 688902. I am normally out on the highway traveling at over 65 MPH on weekend and had the bolts snapped while moving at this speed I would probably be dead. Is there any records of this problem reported by anyone that is still alive? Thanks for you help. Just wanted t o inform you of this happening. I have never heard of this happening on a vehicle. As far as I can determine this vehicle has not been in an accident. Most of the 76,000 miles has been driven on the highways. Thanks again.
Tl*the contact owns a 1997 ford ranger. While traveling 10 MPH attempting a left hand turn the contact noticed that the steering wheel would no longer respond causing the contact to lose control of the vehicle. The steering wheel could be turned in any direction but the wheels would not respond to the movement. The vehicle was towed to a local mechanic where the contact was informed that the steering box had separated from the vehicle. There were no prior warnings and the failure was not diagnosed. The current and failure mileages were 85000.
Reporting numerous serious safety problems with vehicle since purchased used ---original occurrence date not certain but over a number of years mechanical failures occurred that could have resulted in serious injury or fatalities. The failures include but not exclusive to entire brake system failure due to brake lines corroded and leaked all hydraulic fluid --rear body support system gave out during driving and rear wheels and axles not attached to body ---vehicle lost control and went off into shoulder--radial axial arm rusted away and steering system failed while driving. Gas leaks from top of tank if filled to full --leaks on to ground and could result in gas fire and explosion --do not fill tank more than 3/4 ! All brake lines should be replaced and frequent checks of steering and suspension. I am reporting this to make owners aware and take precaution to prevent injury or death.. *tr
Also reported on the 1997 Ford Ranger
Other wheel or tire problem
Other lighting problem
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Other body or interior problem
Wiper or washer failure
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 16 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 16 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 1997 Ford Ranger?
Across 4 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 80,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other steering problem on the 1997 Ford Ranger?
16 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