Problems · by component

2013 Ford F-150 steering problems

211 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2013 Ford F-150 cite steering, 8% of all 2,796 complaints for this model year.

Complaints
211
8% of all complaints
Crashes
7
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
4
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the steering

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel failed to turn in the intended direction. The contact stated that the steering wheel seized. In addition, the steering failure warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 24, 2025SteeringODI 11675966
“The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while exiting the driveway, the steering wheel moved voluntarily and failed to respond as intended. The contact stated that the steering wheel then seized. The message "Power Steering Fault" was displayed on the screen. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 170,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jun 13, 2025SteeringODI 11666851
“I was driving on [XXX] in Georgia. I was going around 75 mph and my transmission dropped from 6th gear to 1st Gear my speed dropped from around 75 mph to 25 mph in less than a second. My safety and the safety of other vehicles/people were put in danger, I almost lost control of my steering and hit somebody in the right lane next to me. Three Vehicles behind me had to slam on their brakes and swerve around me to avoid rear ending me. When the vehicles transmission dropped gears rapidly, at the same time I got a gear wrench symbol across my cluster display, and I lost functionality of the vehicles mph gauge and gas gauge. The fasten seatbelt light was also on but no audible warning tone was heard.. The vehicle also lost acceleration power. I was able to get the vehicle home and turned the car on and off and everything went back to normal. This is an intermittent issue with no warning when it will happen. There was a recall from ford for a programming issue with the tranny and currently a CSP with campaign #19N01 for a Transmission molded leadframe extended coverage. Basically the lead frame needs to be replaced to correct the problem which is 4,000 to 6,000…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 14, 2025Steering, Power train, Electrical systemODI 11642735
“The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the steering wheel was turned; however, the steering wheel failed to respond as intended. In addition, the power steering failure warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with rack and pinion failure. The contact was informed that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 38,057.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 13, 2025SteeringODI 11642545
“Service advancetrac warning has been coming on excessively and ford has known this a problem in the majority of their F150s, for says it needs steering rack replacement and its a known issue”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Dec 5, 2024SteeringODI 11628955
“Driving on highway when a felt a slight jerk in the steering wheel. Then I discovered steering wheel required Herculean strength to turn the vehicle. I made it to a safe location, restarted the vehicle and was able to drive normally. My dash said there was a power steering assist fault. A week later it did it again. A few days after that, my power steering is gone and restarting the vehicle will not fix it. This is an unsafe condition and Ford should issue a recall.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 2, 2024SteeringODI 11569523

Showing 6 of 211 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 3, 2026NHTSA vehicle page

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.