Is it supposed to be this dented up?

Pulled the front part of the exhaust & cleaned it up with my grinder. There was a couple suspect areas with alot of rust I wanted to do away with. Is this part of the exhaust supposed to be this dented up? it seems kinda silly to me and I'm hoping I can just cut out the dented parts and weld in some 2 1/4" pipe. I jacked up the axle to see if it would hit & it looks like it would miss by about 1/4 - 3/8"

heres some pics, keep in mind it has been hit up with the grinder it was really filthy.

also is there a replacement part for this without all the dents? Spending a little more dough for a part thats already done will save me the labor.

Normal, bent for clearance. Wow that pipes about done ! not perforated?

bcmaxx said:

Normal, bent for clearance. Wow that pipes about done ! not perforated?

Click to expand...

yea it is, but I'm a certified welder so its not too hard for me to weld some new metal in there. The problem is I live in a townhouse and don't have room for tubing benders and metal working equipment, so I'm pretty much limited to sawsall, mig welder, and grinder lol.

It's that way so it doesn't do this...



Front driveshaft yoke self-clearances at or near stock height. Doesn't seem to be an issue if you have some lift.

hubs97xj said:

It's that way so it doesn't do this...

Front driveshaft yoke self-clearances at or near stock height. Doesn't seem to be an issue if you have some lift.

Click to expand...

that indent seems minor compaired to the picture I posted, I have no problem with a little indent, but if you look on the inside of the pipe it literally chokes down to 1 1/2" has to be a big power robber.

I just want to know what others have done to get around this.

I replaced with 3"

Put a 4" lift on your XJ and go for it.

FYI--Yes, back pressure in a vehicle's exhaust system can cause loss of HP because the piston must push against the back pressure to clear the cylinder on the exhaust stroke--this is mitigated in the 4.0 by the use of an exhaust header rather than an exhaust manifold--a header utilizes separate "tubes" or runners for each cylinder of approximate equal lengths, plus minus 2"-3", that dump into a collector so that back pressure is minimized. When considering the stock header and the low RPM range of the stock 4.0 (Jeepspeed racers excepted) any loss to that "restricted" downpipe is likely minimal. That said, it would be very interesting to see dyno numbers on this.


Fun read on JP Magazine's website: http://www.jpmagazine.com/techartic...iter_engine_myth_busting_true_lies/index.html

An exaust pipe is way to thin IMO to take a grinder to it. I think the best thing to do is to leave it alone until holes start forming. My 2000 still has the stock exhaust, it is coated with surface rust, but does not leak. so I leave it alone.

I would replace that pipe with some cheap stock replacement.

well i used a wire wheel on a grinder... not a grinding disk, I'm not a moron just a step above stupid.

I'm going to bring the pipe by a local exhaust shop and see if they can make me a prebent piece that I can weld up to avoid the driveshaft yoke and keep it opened up.. Then I just need to paint & wrap it with header wrap.

I'm stock on a 96, just have a small header leak

I have a 98 with a 4.0. my exh pipe below the header is dented worse than those pics, plus I have a exhaust leak from somwhere on the header, or the joint from the header to the exh pipe or both places., I have not found the exact leak or leaks yet. Does anyone have any experience with any of the cheaper headers off ebay. I saw 2 different ones for less than $100. one was even stainless steel, with flex joints at #1 and #6 cyl riser. It looks good, does anyone know If this would be a bad choice?
thanks

I 've had the local muffler shop make me new headpipes for my 88 XJ and 90 MJ without the "crush". I just brought the Jeeps to him. With a 3" lift, you can get by routing the pipe just like it was and not have clearance issues with the driveshaft. On a stock height Jeep, you can have the guy put a swoop in the pipe and keep plenty of clearance. Butt dyno indicates this is a good mod.