2005 Ford Explorer steering problems
12 owner complaints filed with NHTSA name the steering on the 2005 Ford Explorer — 2% of all complaints for this model year.
What owners report
“Car stalled while driving at highway speeds. Brakes and steering became impaired. Lucky, I was in the rightmost lane and was able to narrowly avoid collision. Incident occurred after a ~3hr drive as I was exiting the highway (I.e. Slowing down). Upon restart, engine turned over, but was undriveable…”
filed May 2, 2016
“Hello while driving down the highway, the upper ball joint in the drivers side front broke and caused damage to the axle, tire, and wheel. This caused issues with control of vehicle and could have cause a much greater accident than what occurred. I was able to avoid a major accident, partially due…”
filed Dec 7, 2014
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Steering problems in other Explorer years
| Year | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 Explorer | 1 | 5% |
| 2025 Explorer | 8 | 9% |
| 2024 Explorer | 2 | 11% |
| 2023 Explorer | 12 | 12% |
| 2022 Explorer | 9 | 4% |
| 2021 Explorer | 5 | 1% |
| 2020 Explorer | 25 | 2% |
| 2019 Explorer | 9 | 3% |
| 2018 Explorer | 20 | 3% |
| 2017 Explorer | 75 | 4% |
| 2016 Explorer | 528 | 22% |
| 2015 Explorer | 343 | 20% |
Other reported problem areas on the 2005 Ford Explorer
Counts are unique NHTSA complaints naming this component group. Complaints are unverified owner reports; mileage is computed only from complaints that included a usable odometer reading.