NEED 2wd lift advice

[NateW]

Alright so my truck is a 2001 Ranger XLT ext cab with the 3.0L V6. Its bone stock and i use it as my D/D but i do alot of hunting and fishing here in michigan and i get stuck getting down sum of the trails to the fishing or hunting spot. (I need more ground clearance and a bit more wheel travel. Im in the woods alot). What i would really like is to be able to run sum 31 X10.5 tires. So ive been looking at the fabtech website as to what i should get. Im not willing to pay the 1500 for the 5.5" lift and i think that 3" spindles should work but the fabtech website doesnt give me much of a description for anything. I dont know what i need or what i should get and how much i can expect to pay and most of you guys know what your talking about. What would you Do? If i had the lift i would most definatly use it for offroad other than just getting to the fishin hole (My cabin is close to SILVER LAKE SAND Dunes and there are ORV trails everywhere). The terrain is mostly flat and sandy but ive layed the frame a few times trying to get by sum rough spots I want sumthing that is gonna work well. Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks NATE

 

[fordboi415]

A 3" spindle would be perfect for 31" tires and they are extremely easy to install, you reuse your factory hardware and you end up replacing is your spindles, I have the exact same truck as you and it took me 6 hours to install the spindles and they ran me bout 600 bucks, no alignment is needed by the way

 

[Captain Ledd]

no alignment is needed by the way

I wouldn't chance it. If your alignment was good afterwards, you got lucky.

Aftermarket parts (occasionally) aren't machined to quite the same specs of OEM. Alignments are cheap compared to a set of tires and will keep your bearings alive longer.

I had to do alot of grinding to get holes to align up when I put my lift kit on, which is a Skyjacker. I'm told it's actually one of the better fitting ones.

 

[NateW]

A 3" spindle would be perfect for 31" tires and they are extremely easy to install, you reuse your factory hardware and you end up replacing is your spindles, I have the exact same truck as you and it took me 6 hours to install the spindles and they ran me bout 600 bucks, no alignment is needed by the way

So all i need is the spindles right? I dont need to replace shocks (They are stock but only got bout 5000 miles on them)or get anything else? thanks for the replies

 

[RangerJustin]

Stock shocks will be fine, if you lift the back at all, you will want to get some new shocks back there. I found my spindles new for $300, check craigslist for some. And as stated above, easy install, did it at my buddies place in a few hours (air tools are nice to have), took me about 8 hours to get the damn thing off due to lack of tools in my garage...

 

[GreatWhite]

3" FABTECH spindles w/ stock shocks in the front, add-a-leaf on the back you should be good for clearance haven't had much problems. 31's? get 33's