Originally Posted by mtbfreak612

What about the flange because another problem I had with the apn headers was the flange was thicker than the intake manifolds flange so the bolts did not sit properly

Originally Posted by alpine.adrenaline

Ed Zachary. Offroad the amount of movement between the engine and tailpipe causes them to flex apart at some point. Sometimes its the flange where the header meets the downpipe and you just have to re-tighten the bolts, other times it causes the header to crack. One of these guys in your downpipe will work (though you'd need the right ID size for your exhaust): http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...ier=424715_0_0_ And Dorman makes this header with flex joints on the outermost tubes: http://dormanproducts.com/p-18275-674-196.aspx I went through two exhaust manifolds before I figured out an exhaust hanger's weld was toast. After fixing the hanger, I still wanted a header with some give so I chose that Dorman one. I didn't notice a change in power, fuel economy, or sound, but it has lasted longer than the Rugged Ridge and APN headers I tried before. The possibility of a local warranty exchange is nice, too.

Originally Posted by BrandonSS

I strongly believe the cracking issue is solely caused by the exhaust not utilizing a simple flex pipe. Without a flex, the exhaust cant move freely and the header and flanges are subjected to the weight of everything back to the tip.

Originally Posted by Mass96XJ

Ive been told all headers have to be modified to fit an xj but im fairly new to this.

Originally Posted by hidperf

I put a flex pipe in when I did my exhaust for this exact reason.
Tried to post a pic but no luck

Originally Posted by PDX01XJ

A couple of years ago it seemed AFE advertised the 48-46202 header for Cherokee's. I called them last week and now they say this only fits a Wrangler. Some sellers still think/show it is compatible. Has anyone put this AFE header with the 00 01 stock setup?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/aFe-Power-Tw...H8i2-Q&vxp=mtr

Thx