vague steering

Hi the steering self-centred itself on either lock can't see anything seized on any joints I have lifted all rubber covers on joints and lubricated with oil .Also forgot to mention when on the motorway it will sort of skip of to the left or right even when steering straight . cheers Chris

Do you have a record of when it last had a set of kingpin bearings? It is entirely possible that they become so corroded and full of smuts that while they don't leak oil in the normal manner they are still dead. Like Mike says everything has to be fairly well perfect on a Jimny for it to drive straight and smooth they are far too sensitive to wear.

Hi Lambert
ref kingpin bearings I have checked all the info that came with the car and cant see any mention of kingpin bearings being replaced is there a way of checking them for wear ?
thanks chris

You could jack up and feel for movement 6-9o'clock
Like Lambert says they don't always show oil
Or in my case no movement no oil just a knock every other week
Once apart my bearings just fell out the case was rotten

Knackered shock absorbers can make the car feel 'floaty' which feels a bit like vague steering.

I've had this happen on a couple of older sports cars with those awful Armstron lever-arm type shick absorbers. The whole thing feels very vague on the road and I can only describe it as 'floaty'

There could be a multitude of worn components that combine to create this feeling.

Some MOT Stations have a shaker system where it shakes the whole car on a ramp with the tester underneath looking for play in all if the components.

Finding such an MOT Station and explaining your issue, asking them to help you out by just putting it on that ramp and using their experience to see any likely culprits could make diagnosis much quicker.

The steering wheel will turn a fair bit with no response from the wheels if there's still play in that.

Kirkynut