I am currently putting energy suspension bushings into my leafs and shackles and my question is has anyone done these and left the outer metal sleeve in the leaf spring and then put the energy bushing in? I thought that's what you were supposed to do but they don't really seem like they would fit. The kit said something about outer sleeve needing to be removed

 

Then you need to get the sleeves out. That can be fun.....

 

Yeah you gotta get those sleeves out. Something to note is that it is unlikely that they are rusted in there. They are press fit so it is VERY difficult to remove them. The easiest way I've found requires only a hacksaw or reciprocating saw, a deadblow hammer, and a chisel.

The way you do it is take your hacksaw blade out, put it through the eyelet, and reconnect it to the saw frame. Then cut the sleeve straight across until you reach the leaf spring metal or at least 90% of the way through. It's not super hard metal so with a good blade it won't take forever. Be careful to make a level cut so as not to put a big gash in the leaf eyelet. Then make another cut parallel to the first roughly the width of your chisel head (don't use a giant chisel) away from the first cut. Same thing, cut until you reach the leaf spring metal.

This is a Subaru subframe but same concept. I used a reciprocating saw here.



Then the fun part. Take your chisel and start whacking the edge of the piece you just made. It should start bending inward, peeling back from the leaf. There might be a little corrosion but really it shouldn't require much.



Now the really fun part. With that piece removed (and thus the "press-fit" effectively destroyed, you should be able to just smack the edge of what remains of the sleeve until it bends inward. In the case of this Subaru, it started coming out even before I had the sliver out! Note I didn't cut this one all the way through because there's not very much metal to spare on the shell. You don't have to be so careful with the leaf spring eyelet.



Good luck.

 

That's pretty much the method I use, but, I put my cuts further apart, and most of the time, the two halves will just fall out after a couple taps with the chisel.