Exhaust question for XJ Cherokee's

[nicpaige]

Will a tubular header and exhaust made for a 1998 XJ 4.0 fit into a 2000 XJ 4.0?
The new Edelbrock head was designed for use with the earlier exhaust manifold which means the pipe going to the converter would need to be from the earlier style also, question is are their fitment issues?

[SilverXJ]

While I can't speak for the Edelbrock head, I have fit an earlier header to a 0331 head and a later header to a 0630 head. I would assume the Edelbrock is the same in this respect. If not the heads would have a problem with all the pre 0331 headed vehicles with exhaust headers.

[nicpaige]

I'm more worried about the pipe from the header to the converter fitting than the head to the header.

[gradon]

You would also need the down/s-pipe from the earlier model to the cat if you want to use a header designed for the earlier model. Do you have the pre-cat Cali model or Federal model?

[nicpaige]

No pre-cats on mine.

[gradon]

So why not consider some of the aftermarket headers for the 2000-06 4.0ls that bolt onto your non-pre-cat down-pipe?

Banks 51306
Borla 17202
Rugged Ridge 17650.52(there's currently a 5% rebate)
Drake Off Road JP-150001-SS

[nicpaige]

Well the Borla looks nice but $800 dollar header is not in the plan. The others look like they fit Wranglers not XJ's? Thanks for your replies as well. Im learning about this XJ platform as I go.

[nicpaige]

After looking at the collectors on the 2000 and up headers (one for each 3 cylinders) it seems like it would flow somewhat better than the older header with a single collector? Of course it becomes sort of a mute point when it funnels down to a single pipe. Unless you go with a larger exhaust tube from the down pipe back. Make sense?

[gradon]

Yeah, the 00+ headers aren't longtubes, but can be kept separate if you want to do the work. I still need to weld a 3" v-band on a Clifford header I chopped up.