I just placed an 86" PLM in an ABR800, and it held well, just make sure the umbrella adapter is positioned so the flanges make as much contact with each other as possible on the inside diameter of the ringflash.
As for the zoom being unreachable: I had a customer describe his solution that worked for him. Basically, he took a cardboard core of an appropriate size (think paper towel tube, only bigger) and cut it in half (so you now have two half cylinders) and cut to desired length. Place one end of the half tube over the zoom ring and secure with rubberbands (depending on the lens, you may wish to add spacers between the zoom ring and half-tube. You may also want to experiment with friction material between the lens and tube). The half-tube then extended back toward the camera. By turning the tube, he could now zoom as desired, without reaching within the ringflash.
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