No, not another death wobble!

I am looking at a 2nd hand Jimny, but not had much luck so far as my first one fell apart! But the latest, a 2012 one, has a wobble of the steering wheel at about 50mph. It is probably not a death wobble, as it isn't as severe as the videos\descriptions on here make that out to be, and if you speed up\slow down slightly it goes. It's more than a vibration though, so more than I have experienced in other vehicles with a wheel balance issue.  The steering wheel makes your hands move side to side a good inch or so at high speed.

When I brought this up on the test drive the garage suggested the king pin needed replacing, which they claim to have done but with no luck. So having checked everything else (they claim), they have now fitted a steering damper, which they say has 'mostly' solved the issue (I haven't been over to drive it since).

I understand this is quite a common issue with Jimnys, and the damper is a worthwhile upgrade anyway, but the question is; is this still a good purchase and what might I be in for to get it properly fixed if the damper is just papering over a crack that ultimately does needs fixing?

P.S. If anyone knows of a later Gen 3, say 2010 onwards, in the Surrey\Berks\Hamps area for sale, that is in good condition, I would love to know?

It doesn't sound convincing to me that they've truly fixed it and whether it really had the kin pins done in the first place unless they have proof of receipts for the parts. Wheel wobble on a Jimny can be caused by so much from as little as the wrong tire pressures or wheels fitted through to kin pins and bearings etc. I think I would keep looking unless you are truly fixed on that car or can get it for a good price allowing for some allowance for further repairs.

The fact that the wobble occurs at a particular speed and will disappear if/when the speed is varied up or down suggests that this is a "speed wobble" and not the wobble of death.

This is more than likely a wheel balance issue.

Also just replacing the king pin bearings isn't always the solution they need to be correctly pre loaded which is checked with a spring balance part way through the reassembly process and is sometimes overlooked.

Thanks guys.

fordem - My first guess was a wheel balance issue, but they tell me they checked this and it isn't that.

Lambert - I have no idea if they correctly set the preload?! They seem to know enough to know to change the king pin, and now to fit a damper, so I have to assume they have done the same searches on the Internet I have... But the question is; do I take the gamble that if the problem persists, can I fix it cheaply enough to not feel stung? If they have fitted new king pins, which I have no real way to be sure they did in the end, can the preload be set later easily enough and how likely is it that will resolve the issue?

Whilst walking away seems the easier option, there are not many up for sale, so it would mean just going back to not being a JImny owner again and waiting patiently...