I'll let others that have done it answer your question because I haven't put a lift on my trail. But I'll just toss-in that the trail has such short a-arms and axles, a 2" lift would be ..IMO.. too tough on the CV joints.. and no, you would need the EXs a-arms to run their axles. The other thing is...the trail rides like a buckboard anyway and a lift like that would make it even worse. If it were mine...and I thought I needed more ground clearance, Yes, I would go with the 28" tires first, then do an 1-inch spacer lift...then let those skid plates do their job. I do have 27" tires, some steel skid plates and I have adjusted the preload to be just a hair higher then it came from the factory...and I get by.