What's the way to go for a 3" lift

[ExplSport02]

Oh i know i will want to go bigger, but i will have to settle for what i got since i dont have a ton of $$$. 33's do look a lot better though. BTW i like your X

 

[Redrig]

thanks, the best advise i can give is to search alot before you make a final decision. and think about it alot. so you make the right decision the first time. i understand bucks is important i had alot of plans till my tranny went.

 

[Yomie]

Yeah what he said, lol

I know there are a few people that cut and fabbed to make theire brushgard work, i don't have one so i can't help you there.

With Tex and Chig, since both of you have the 95-97 explorers you will need the '95 ranger 3" BL kit and the '98 ranger 3" bumper brackets...Expl you will need the '98 Ranger BL kit only

If you go with 2" BL, i used the '94 Explorer kit, and i reused 6 stock bolts (just swapped locations) and bought 4 new bolts (2" longer than stock of course) it was a pain trying to find thoes bolts long enough. With the 2" BL kit i used the '98 Ranger 3" bumper brackets, and everything worked great. I will admit that remounting the rear bumper was alot easier with the 2" kit. I have no problems with my steering with the 3" kit and i have had it on for over a year now. With the 2" BL kit, i did not relocate my radiator, i only dropped the shroud, BUT the radiator hose was in the way, so i dropped the drivers side of the shroud 2" and the passenger side 1", it worked fine.

With my trailer hitch, i cut off the top half of the hitch mounts and positioned the hitch where it needed to be. I used a cobalt 1/2 bit and drilled new holes through the hitch plate (2 on each side) and then i drilled an additional hole on each side through the frame and hitch, i secured it with 1/2 bolts, everything is perfect.

I hope this helps

 

[Green Lantern]

I recently did a 3" bl on my 94X. Like Redrig said, the only problem is the steering is a bit different after you do it, but there are things you can do to minimize the difference. I don't have a brushguard, so I can't help you there, but I do have a hidden hitch (round tubing) and it sticks down a little bit, but it really blends in with the spare tire, so it's not very noticeable. I'm glad I went with the 3" instead of the 2".