2017 RAM 1500 Complaints

The vehicle is a 2017 Ram 1500 Big Horn EcoDiesel 4x4 that I bought new in 2018. The backup camera has been a constant intermittent problem since the second year of ownership. It will go dark, have a green screen, or display scrambled lines. The camera has been replaced by the local Ram dealer (Mullahey Jeep/Dodge/Ram in Paso Robles, CA) at least once under warranty, but the problem recurred. It has been there at other times for the issue, but the problem had rectified itself by the time I got it there. After researching this on the internet the problem appears to be in the backup camera wiring harness in the tailgate, possibly in the electrical connectors. Many people complain about the issue on various forums, and there are quite a few videos on You Tube with homegrown fixes which I have tried, but they are a temporary at best. The best temporary remedy I have found is to open and then slam the tailgate shut. The problem appears to be quite common. I informed the dealer about the wiring harness possibly being the source of the problem the last time I brought it in a few years ago, but they seemed to ignore my advice. I know that there have been safety recalls of RAM pickups for backup camera issues from model years 2019 onwards, so why not other affected years? The problem most recently recurred today as I was backing out of my driveway. It has occurred numerous times over the years. RAM appears to have no permanent fix for this safety hazard. Luckily, I have not yet had an accident, but no one should have to wait for an accident, injury, or a fatality to order a recall. I hope my complaint does not fall on deaf ears as it has with RAM. Thank you.

EPS steering rack stopped working. It began as an intermittent problem, with the power steering getting stiff on occasion, it quickly progressed to a regular problem. Makes the truck difficult to steer while driving slowly, especially in parking lots which makes it hard to safely maneuver. It started a few months ago, and got worse in the past 3-4 weeks. The truck has 145k miles, almost all highway commuting. I have not gotten it fixed yet, I will likely pull the rack myself as it’s out of warranty. Thankfully I know how to work on cars, but it’s still going to be a $1500 repair. Knowing that there’s NTSA investigation going on for this and a class action lawsuit, I wanted to make sure I reported my problem to help with understanding the scale of this flaw.

"While driving up an incline, the Electric Power Steering (EPS) system suddenly failed completely, causing the steering wheel to go violently stiff and dangerous to turn. The power steering warning light illuminated on the dashboard. After pulling over, turning the vehicle off, and restarting it, the system performed a soft reset and function temporarily returned. This matches the exact failure profile of active NHTSA investigation RQ23003 for Ram steering module circuit board failures."

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2017 Ram 1500. It was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a dealer sale. The contact called the dealer but there was no response due to the location being bankrupt. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 120,000. A Carfax report was obtained. it was discovered that the mileage was 140,000.There was no other agency contacted.

The contact owns a 2017 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the Traction Control, ABS, Electric Trailer Brake, and Brake warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer, where it was purchased, and it was scanned with an OBD2 scanner; however, it was cleared for error codes and diagnosed safe to drive. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure occasionally reoccurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 106,200.

After buying as is, a few months later started having steering issues. After trying to self diagnose I finally took it to a ram dealership in Lexington, Ky. They determined it was the EPS Steering Rack. I found a used one for 1,000 that I’m going to replace it with because the dealership quoted me 4,500 and I just simply cannot afford it. Praying this used one resolves my problem. I really wish there was a recall for this because I feel like a sitting duck and just have to try to fix it.

on 5/19/26 I had just traveled about 100 miles when suddenly I lost steering. As soon as I lost steering a red steering wheel with an ! appeared on the dash. I managed to get slowed down and pulled over but it was very hard to turn the steering wheel. I shut off the vehicle let it sit for about 20 min and started it again. The steering worked for about 3 min then went out again as I was driving it to a chevy dealership nearby. They reported that when they got back into the truck later that afternoon steering was working again. after OBD diagnostic they found C2129 C212A and C2128 for voltage out of range. On freeze frame they found voltage at 24V and 7.5 V when code set. Garage test drove it and found no issue. I had one more issue with this on the way back home. I looked up recalls and saw that this was a recall for other models of 2017 Ram. Please advise if there have been other reports of my model RAM. This was a very scary event for a female driving down a highway to suddenly lose steering.

4-28-2026 - Service ABS illuminated, Emergency Brake Warning Light Stays Illuminated, and Electronic Stability Control Warning stays Illuminated. Had it at dealer on 4-30-2026. They tested system and said ABS CONTROL MODULE was working but sensor was bad and there was a backlog or over 20,000 customers waiting for replacement OEM parts. Engineers developed a replacement in 2023 but the replacement had a faulty chip and is not serviceable. As a result, there are over 20,000 RAM and Jeep owners driving around with unsafe vehicles. There is a safety recall for this issue but only calls out RAM 2500 and 3500 trucks.

About 5 days ago my ABS and traction control light came on brought it to a auto repair shop and when they hooked up to it to retrieve code it showed abs module failure and no parts are available to repair truck so now having to drive it without these safety features due to lack of parts.

Sudden loss of power steering. Turning off of the main road into my neighborhood I completely lost power steering. The power steering warning light was in the dash at that point. I managed to get the truck home. Checked fuses and all way good. After restarting my truck everything was working as expected. The warning light was gone. Every other model of ram this year has been recalled except this one. This is unacceptable.