It's definately possible to do it yourself, the only reason I had a shop do it was that there is over a foot of snow on the ground and no garage. It will most likely take you a weekend to do the lift with drop brackets by yourself. You will need to get new axle seals because you will have to take it out. The brackets alone were $350 with a $100 return on the core at www.Darlington_offroad.com Make sure you get the one with the crossmember drop bracket as well (most expensive on his site)
I would suggest getting the spring spacer if you plan on dropping the diff, you will be very happy with the results! And its only like $100 more for the extra 1". I think you will also need new rear shocks with this setup though, fronts will be fine, I have the Bilstein part #'s in my profile. The ones I got are supposedley a tad bit long and the shop said I could possibly loose a spring but I went wheeling and it didn't even hiccup. I like the feel of the rear shocks I got, but my fronts seem a little soft/bouncey.
I also got 2" rear bump stop extensions, no need for brakeline extension.
2001 Ironman Daily Driver... 3.5" suspension lift (OME912 springs and 1" spring spacer), ball joint flip, 1.5" front diff. drop, 33"x12.5 TrXus MT, 16x10 Eagle Alloy rims, Interceptor, PV muffler, K&N air filter, Alpine Supercharger, Bilstein shocks, and some trimming.
2000 Ironman Project LS-1 VX... very slow progress but someday....... ohhhhh someday......