The tires had to be stacked and set to the side while we bolted on our next product. We've built a few mud machines in our time, and we knew that our Honda Foreman needed to stay close to stock in order for it to maintain its trailability. So we contacted our friends over in West Monroe, Louisiana, Xtreme ATV Products which manufactures a really cool kit that will give the 2005 and newer Honda Foreman and Rubicon a lift. In our case, we wanted to stay close to the ground while still getting a bit of lift, so we opted for the two-inch version. This will help our machine to stay ridable in most any trail system. The kit comes in one box when shipped but is separated into four smaller packages so that the parts pile or guesswork for installation is eliminated. After inspecting the package, we knew Xtreme ATV had built a really easy-to-install and rigid lift kit. Each part is laser cut from 3/16 cold roll steel and fits like a glove in its specific location. The parts also have a zinc coating for maximum durability. The kit simply requires hand tools, a good jack and, for us, only about an hour to install. It doesn't get any easier than this, folks! There you have it, two more inches of ground clearance and room for those awesome 27-inch tires. We did end up cutting a sliver out of our back fenders just to make sure that we did not experience any scrubbing. But it really was just a sliver.
After getting the swamp monkey into the air, we mounted our wheels and tires except for the right front. We needed to leave this one off for our next mod from SubMarine Snorkel. To make this machine submergible, we needed to make sure it could breath under water. As I mentioned before, we do not have to worry about a CVT snorkel, but we most definitely do have to put a snout on the airbox. We need our Foreman to breathe good when the big one catches us off guard and the fenders disappear from beneath us. The guys at SubMarine Snorkel sent out a great and yet again simple kit to get the job done right. The snorkel comes preglued in three parts or sections, and this seems to make things simpler. The kit is made of black pipe and has a signature SubMarine Snorkel crash plate. This crash plate is a great feature, and if you do happen to find yourself in a bad crash or fender bender, the parts can be replaced easily as the plate is reusable time after time. The crash plate simply bolts to the front rack and each section is connected with rubber boots and hose clamps. It fits pretty good right out of the box with little modifications. The coolest part to our mind was the rubber-hose-style riser coming off the top of the crash plate as it is flexible and bends, a bonus when driving through low tree branches or other obstacles not to mention during a rollover. And just in case I did not mention it, the snorkel looks really trick on our Honda Foreman 500.