The current wiki clearly states that updateColumns is a method that is available and requires special calling procedure:

“this synchronizes the width of the headers with the data. Useful when used with table drag and drop. This method should be used this way – Example:
var mygrid=jQuery(”#grid_id”)[0];
mygrid.updateColumns();”

However in v3.8 changes and fixes documentation it states:

“Remove updateColumns function which is not needed in sortableRows”