Propnut, I just read your thread and the comment about the suspension kit. I installed 2 inch highlifter kit on my Foreman a couple of months back. This past weekend I lifted the atv on my jack to remove and clean the front brake shoes and drums. When I tried to turn the front wheels to adjust the brakes they would bind every quarter of a turn and the opposite wheel would move the swingarm up and down as it turned showing that apparantly at full extension the cv axles must be binding. Is this the problem you had? I am seriously thinking about removing the lift kit from my Foreman after realizing this at full extension. I would think it would have to be rough on the joints, right?

 

I didn't want to get into this again, but I'm still disappointed with Perfex's response (none) to a couple of simple questions I had.

I didn't like the kit from the moment I saw it. Never mind how weak the front brackets are, they are made line on line with the stock mounts, so the brackets have to be bent to fit around the stock shock mounts (I'm not talking about the tabs that you have to bend around the a-arm - the 'product improvement' that took the place of the nice hose clamp that held the bracket in the Foreman kit). When you put the shock in the new location snug (and you can only use one of the two settings, not like advertised) the shock is free to move fore and aft on the bolt close to 1/4", so you have to crush the bracket with the new shock bolt. This pinches the shock and restricts travel. This is what I first noticed on the front, lame. Custom brackets that you have to bend like a potato chip to fit. This guy does not know what a bend allowance is.

An addition problem I had is with the new travel. Your shock limits the travel of your wheel. If you move the bottom of the shock (only) towards its pivot, the wheel travels farther down because its on a longer lever. This extra drop out worried me. You are just allowing more severe CV angles than stock, you are also increasing the distance from the differential to wheel. Did Honda figure this into the length of the driveshaft? Probably not. Did Perfex, probably not or maybe he didn't care. While his kit likely rides in a safe area for the shafts and CVs, I don't think it travels in a safe area when unsprung.

The back is where I had the brake issue. Same thing with the back with travel. You move the bottom of the shock in and the rear wheels drop out farther, tugging the brake cable and probably putting the driveshaft at a hard angle. Had to compromise and loosen the cables to where I needed a full pull to get the brakes to work when the suspension was fully compressed to avoid having the brake drag when at full drop out.

I took it for a ride and didn't think the wear and tear was worth the slight improvement in the ride. I bought a Honda for reliability, I have no doubt this kit will take away from that. I thought it just changed the shock angle, I guess I didn't think about it enough first.

I have not tried the highlifter, so I cannot comment. Does it allow a greater drop out, then maybe?

Maybe the radials I ordered will soften the ride up a little - the stock ride is not that bad.

 

I have to say the ride and handling improved. The ride got a little softer and the handling got so much lighter it is like a different machine. As far as the the angle on the driveshafts, its the same as what you have experienced. The cv boots look like they are stretched to the max and the angles are so steep that as I said, when lifted or unsprung, the cvs bind enough to the point that the shafts compress and release the suspension in order to make full revolutions. When sitting back on the ground with rider weight it isnt as high and probably doesnt bind. Only thing is that while riding, especially at speed the suspension is unsprung probably as often as it is sprung. I believe I will remove the kit also and just buy taller tires the next time for ground clearance and maybe the larger sidewalls of larger tires may improve the ride as well. I guess the lift kits do as advertised, increase ground clearance, they dont promise not to damage suspension or shafts!