Dented Exhaust Pipe
 

Just bought this 98 XJ SE Manual transmission. It seems to have an aftermarket exhaust becasue it has headers instead of a manifold, and the O2 sensor is located in the pipe just aft the header. My jeep has some power issues in 4th and 5th gear in the 50-65 mph range (wish I had a tach). I noticed a huge dent in the pipe that attaches to the header. It is located a few inches behind the joint and is about an inch deep. It doesn't look like it was made by a machine but the guy at a muffler shop thought it was supposed to be there to clear the drive shaft, even though there is nothin that comes near the dent. As far as I can figure, somethign got caught between the pipe and the suspension, when the wheel came up. Just to make sure, does anyone know if this is stock?

Does it look like this?
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/exh...pe-dent-32071/

They have a dent in the exhaust kinda in front of the crossmember from the factory.
Its about 6-12" long.

Its there to keep the driveshaft ujoint from tearing up the exhaust, though I dont see any way the two would touch each other..

Yup looks just like that. I took a measurement, and with a 3" lift, it looks like the suspension will hit the bump stops before hitting the exhaust. I guees it must be for the stock suspension setup. Bummer. I was hoping that it was the casue of my engine troubles.