P1000m5 My C-Fab Journey and Review

[Robobrainiac]

Background:
I have a 2020 Honda Pioneer 1000-5 Deluxe. I needed more ground clearance so I installed the highifter lift. The reason for that along with more information can be found in my build thread.

P1000m5 - The Robo Build

The Purchase: 07-16-20 Hello All! I don't think I have made an introduction yet. I have been on here for awhile now. My wife and I are from central MO. We recently purchased our first home on 20 acres almost a year ago. We have had a couple Honda 4 wheelers for maybe 4 years now and enjoyed the...

hondasxs.com

I have the VISION UTV
BOLT 544 SATIN BLACK
PART NUMBER: 544BL147136SB54
SIZE : 14x7 OFFSET : +54 wheels. @SuperATV 28x10-14 tires. I have 1" spacers on the front and 2" spacers on the rear. I came across an awesome deal on some fox shocks. I got them installed and noticed under compression in turns the tires made contact with the reservoirs. After some research and Hondasxs coaching I determined I needed the shocks to be back at their factory angle and I need to keep the ride height. So the C-Fab arms were ordered. Over the next couple of days I will be trying to get the bracket lift removed and new C-Fab arms installed.

 

[Admin]

 

[Robobrainiac]

The new arms finally unboxed. I ordered them during the black Friday 2022 sale. They took forever to ship. Then they sat in their box on the floor for forever.

 

[Robobrainiac]

I had previously purchased the ball joint circlips however I did not realize they do not come with new castle nuts. My local Honda dealer will not have nuts until next week. So I will try to find some on my lunch break.

 

[Robobrainiac]

So far some frustrating occurrences are that 1 of my ball joints was not fully seated. The circlip would not fit in the valley. So I get to mess up the nice pretty paint to get this thing seated. All of the open thread ends on the arms were not covered during the paint process and needed cleaning. I installed my first two OK and on the third heim joint I thought I ruined the threads when the paint sent it crooked. So I cleaned it up and cleaned the rest out.

 

[Robobrainiac]

All the joints with a little anti seize installed. The bushings and sleeves with some grease installed as well.

 

[Robobrainiac]

I would like to point out for anyone interested that my arms did not come with any instructions. I sent an email to C-Fab and within 20 minutes had a response. These are the instructions:

 

[Robobrainiac]

Westlakes did not have the castle nuts. Fastenal is apparently closed from 12-1 (during my lunch break). Family center farm and home had what I needed.

 

[Robobrainiac]

It's quitting time. Otherwise known as personal project time.

Before measurements are as follows
The rear at the bottom of the N 44 7/8"
The front at the winch is 24"
14 3/4" at the lower front control arm tab
17 3/8" at the rear hitch reciever

 

[Robobrainiac]

Now I have a frustration with my local Honda dealer. I ordered the circlips from them last week. They said only the upper ball joint has a circlip. I said are you sure? He said yes. The lowers do not list a circlip. So I picked the clips up last week not thinking anything about it. I am pulling apart my current arms and they have clips on them. Guess who is closed now and cannot help.

 

[Robobrainiac]

Now that I am working on the circlips for the lower I find another ball joint not fully seated. The clip cannot fit in the groove. The ball joint is pressed in crooked. One side has a gap and the other side is flush.

 

[Robobrainiac]

The front bracket lift has been removed and the LF is done.

 

[HondaTech]

Now that I am working on the circlips for the lower I find another ball joint not fully seated. The clip cannot fit in the groove. The ball joint is pressed in crooked. One side has a gap and the other side is flush.

View attachment 387944

Typical junk

 

[chucksmith0706]

Once you get done fighting with those clips and everything is installed, you will love them. I have them on my bike and love how they come out. The powder coating could have been little better, certain spots of mine are coming off and I don’t ride hard or in mud. The perform well and I would buy again. Once I upgrade my shocks(stock), I’ll be happy happy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HondaTech]

I recently had a customer install this setup and brought to us for alignment. I'm not sure what he wanted, since Honda doesn't give us any specs for anything but front steering toe.

Do they not have spec for balljoint to mount distance or similar?

 

[Robobrainiac]

The front is done. I will attempt the rear tomorrow. I did not solve my previous issue of the tire rubbing, I only changed the rubbing location :/ I switched my spacers from front to rear to see if 2" would fix the issue. They new 2" spacers are on their way for the front. Here is to hoping they arrive before we leave for the takeover. Now I need to find some 3" spacers for the rear. The first picture is the 1" spacer. The second picture is the 2" spacer from the rear. Without changing my pre-load the height looks a little less than half an inch taller than the high lifter which should be correct since the high lifter was a 2.5" lift and the C-Fab is a 3" lift.

 

[Robobrainiac]

Typical junk

I do recognize it seems to be the cheapest route to obtain this style of lift. I am mainly disappointed at this point with the lack of quality control. My first not fully seated ball joint was just not fully pressed in. I was able to drive it in with a large socket and air hammer with no damage to the paint. However the second ball joint really fought me since it was crooked. I wrapped and taped the paint and still managed to bugger it a bit. The fact that I paid "extra" to have them installed and hope to not ruin the paint is what irritates me the most.

 

[JenElio]

The front is done. I will attempt the rear tomorrow. I did not solve my previous issue of the tire rubbing, I only changed the rubbing location :/ I switched my spacers from front to rear to see if 2" would fix the issue. They new 2" spacers are on their way for the front. Here is to hoping they arrive before we leave for the takeover. Now I need to find some 3" spacers for the rear. The first picture is the 1" spacer. The second picture is the 2" spacer from the rear. Without changing my pre-load the height looks about half an inch taller than the high lifter which should be correct since the high lifter was a 2.5" lift and the C-Fab is a 3" lift.

View attachment 387952 View attachment 387953 View attachment 387954 View attachment 387955 View attachment 387956 View attachment 387957

3" spacer?🤨......where are is the tire rubbing up front that you need the 2" spacers?

 

[Robobrainiac]

I recently had a customer install this setup and brought to us for alignment. I'm not sure what he wanted, since Honda doesn't give us any specs for anything but front steering toe.

Do they not have spec for balljoint to mount distance or similar?

What you see in the instructions above is all the information you get about where to set the heim joints. I plan on really tinkering with it to make it a nice alignment. I know it's going to suck adjusting all the heims. It is what it is. My goal is +0.05 degrees of toe at each corner, -0.2 degrees of front camber with - 0.5 degrees of rear camber. I won't be picky about caster as long as it is positive and matches both sides. In theory when applied to a small SUV those measurements should be a good base to start with for decent drive handling and good tire wear. I will adjust from there based on feel and tire wear after some good time driving.

 

[Robobrainiac]

3" spacer?🤨......where are is the tire rubbing up front that you need the 2" spacers?

I will most likely not get 3" spacers for the rear. But it may bug me since I will know the front is slightly wider than the rear after the addition of 2" spacers to the front With the current front 1" spacers at full turn the tire hits the lower shock mount.

 

[HondaTech]

I do recognize it seems to be the cheapest route to obtain this style of lift. I am mainly disappointed at this point with the lack of quality control. My first not fully seated ball joint was just not fully pressed in. I was able to drive it in with a large socket and air hammer with no damage to the paint. However the second ball joint really fought me since it was crooked. I wrapped and taped the paint and still managed to bugger it a bit. The fact that I paid "extra" to have them installed and hope to not ruin the paint is what irritates me the mosView attachment 387962

Thats why I said typical.

Most aftermarket stuff out there started out as RZR replacements and since anything is better than the junk they use to throw on those pieces of s***, people ate it up.

But those guys never stepped their game up and their trying to sell the same junk now to people to have other choices and really don't have to have it. The Talon market is even worse, the arched arms I see everyday that are f***ing garbage, with bushings blown out and balljoint folded over blows my mind.