Anyone have power steering failure? 2020 3500

[MPWolf]

We have 3100 miles on our new Dodge Ram 3500. My power steering does out on a two lane hey doing 75 with a horse trailer. Even better is I was between two semis with no shoulder to pull off to.
Dodge roadside hauled the truck to the closest dealer but told us we had to haul the trailer with livestock ourselves. We were 250 miles from home in the desert.
We were stuck for 3 days with our animals in a trailer in front of a Hampton inn.
The dealer finally found loose wires and fuses. He said that should be the fix. Since my last dodge was a two year battle and lemon lawed I asked him to check again.
we headed out for a 1 hour drive to pick up the truck than back 1 hr to get horse trailer. Right before we pull into town the steering goes out again. Dodge hauls it off again.
we have to find someone to haul our trailer 250 miles home. Now they have no idea what’s wrong and no idea how long it will be.
And because the dealer is so far away they did not provide a car

 

[Great White North Eh]

That sucks! Please update to hopefully help others. Hauling animals is not the time to have problems

 

[Squatch]

I’m sorry that happened. Doesn’t seem like a common issue. Related question, if you lose power steering, but not the fluid, would it hurt anything to keep driving it? Or would it just give you a good workout?

 

[MPWolf]

I’m sorry that happened. Doesn’t seem like a common issue. Related question, if you lose power steering, but not the fluid, would it hurt anything to keep driving it? Or would it just give you a good workout?

You can’t steer, dodge is electrical. So it’s like lifting 10 cinder blocks. It does not turn completely and had I panicked I have no doubt my family would not be here today. I am 123 lbs and was hauling a fully loaded 3 horse on a two lane hwy, boxed between 2 semi trucks. There was no shoulder of any kind to pull off of. I am thankful it was a straight road and the off ramp we found was a slow straight exit. Had it been a loop we would have been stuck.

 

[davis2]

We have 3100 miles on our new Dodge Ram 3500. My power steering does out on a two lane hey doing 75 with a horse trailer. Even better is I was between two semis with no shoulder to pull off to.
Dodge roadside hauled the truck to the closest dealer but told us we had to haul the trailer with livestock ourselves. We were 250 miles from home in the desert.
We were stuck for 3 days with our animals in a trailer in front of a Hampton inn.
The dealer finally found loose wires and fuses. He said that should be the fix. Since my last dodge was a two year battle and lemon lawed I asked him to check again.
we headed out for a 1 hour drive to pick up the truck than back 1 hr to get horse trailer. Right before we pull into town the steering goes out again. Dodge hauls it off again.
we have to find someone to haul our trailer 250 miles home. Now they have no idea what’s wrong and no idea how long it will be.
And because the dealer is so far away they did not provide a car

How did you make out???

 

[MPWolf]

Still without a truck... they can’t seam to get the part in. Eta for Dec 21 but it keeps moving. Merry Christmas to us!!

 

[davis2]

Still without a truck... they can’t seam to get the part in. Eta for Dec 21 but it keeps moving. Merry Christmas to us!!

Wow, that sucks! Being stranded with the horses is even worse... I'd get a good roadside assistance plan if I were you. Good luck with the truck. You should talk to the RamCares guy that posts here.

 

[Great White North Eh]

The ETA on a new truck might even be less than the time to get parts to fix it!

 

[MikeXM]

Having lost power steering once while towing on the highway I fully understand what you went though. I never want to experience that ever again.
In my case, it was the serpentine belt that went out. That $40 part cost me over $600 in various expenses.

 

[davis2]

Having lost power steering once while towing on the highway I fully understand what you went though. I never want to experience that ever again.
In my case, it was the serpentine belt that went out. That $40 part cost me over $600 in various expenses.

I had that happen to me on an '02 Mack with 22 ton of grain on it. It was a balmy -25 farenheit!

 

[Pronto]

That's a terrible ordeal from beginning to now. I'm glad it didn't happen in the heat of summer. Did it give you any warning?

 

[MPWolf]

That's a terrible ordeal from beginning to now. I'm glad it didn't happen in the heat of summer. Did it give you any warning?

well the dash flashed a warning saying power steering was not available at this time than it was gone. However thats not much of a warning

 

[MPWolf]

The ETA on a new truck might even be less than the time to get parts to fix it!

I agree! However kinda stuck with this one. cant sell it when you dont have it. And we live in California so our luck if we sell it and something happens to knew owners we would be liable...even though this is totally FCA's fault.

 

[MPWolf]

also someone above mentioned talking to a customer care person.....No one at FCA cares ( I have dealt with them all). They actually said because no accident "occurred" that they couldnt help me.
So someone has to be injured or die first??
We are $3,500 out of pocket on rentals, hotels and tow vehicles during Christmas. We cant pick up feed so we pay to have it delivered, we cant haul to events or lessons for my daughter. They have screwed us in more ways than one. Oh and a few weeks ago when we were put on voluntary evacuation for fires..we had no way to get our animals out. DODGE DOES NOT CARE. I am literally driving an electric blue mini van when I pay for a $80,000 truck!

sorry, just a little holiday venting...

 

[davis2]

It was me who suggested @RamCares. They post on this site, they say they can help when you need it... Sorry about your situation, that sucks!

 

[27ftToaster]

@MPWolf - Any update on this? What was the solution? When did it get repaired?

I have a 2020 2500 Limited and on 12/27/2020 received the message "Power Steering Unavailable" as well with 4300 miles. We were 2000 miles from home in Texas with our Airstream. Went to nearest dealer (2-1/2 hours away) and was told that we had Internal Failure in Steering Assist Module. They looked up the part #68507900AB and it was 45+ days out! We opened a case with Chrysler Customer Care and drove home with our Trailer and NO POWER STEERING! We made it home (with stronger biceps now ) and now have an estimated date of Jan 20 to get the part. I am very disappointed with Dodge on this as this is not a safe condition. When you buy an $80k truck, you expect that Dodge could stock the appropriate parts. Electronic parts can file. I understand that. But they need to anticipate that. How widespread is this issue?

 

[Blackbrush]

I have the exact same issue. Pulling and reinstalling the fuse fixes it temporarily. It only occurs for me when the ambient air temp is above 70ish and the underhood temp has risen to full operating temp.

 

[27ftToaster]

@Blackbrush, What does your dealer say? Obviously that is not really an acceptable solution.

 

[Blackbrush]

They told me to bring it in asap. TBH, it's been cold enough that I haven't had issues, I love the truck and use it constantly. I can't be without it. I don't want them to take it in, tell me we are waiting on parts for 45 days and tell me I can't have it back until fixed for safety reasons or such. I took delivery (it's a '20) in Oct and am 15k mi now.

 

[Somemofo]

I also have this dangerous and unacceptable issue on my 2020 RAM 2500 Power Wagon. It started before I hit 600 miles and persists now, with a little over 2000 miles. It is definitely heat triggered and electrical/computer related.
I took it to the dealer and after weeks of not having my truck while they waited for a "steering gear" that I believe will not fix this issue, I just took my truck back because I need it (and I damn sure have to make my monthly payment on it. The part number for the steering gear is mentioned above. Do we know any instances of this actually fixing the problem? I have read one forum post that claimed this was resolved with a new wiring harness (didn't specify which harness).

During the recent Texas freeze, I enjoyed days of driving without any issues, but as soon as weather returned to normal, the issue once again occurs every day! @RamCares , anything to add here?