I am in the process of putting in new Maier leaf springs with poly bushing kit. My question is, do I use the metal casing on the front bushing? I don't think I do, but the busing set I have doesn't say either way, and I don't want to have to do this again.
I got my Maier springs last month and had a machine shop press out the old rubber ones, including the metal sleeve. I believe the rubber is vulcanized onto the sleeve and you couldn't seperate it if you wanted to.
I think rust is stronger than vulcanization (Mr. Spock excluded)
When I pressed out the original shock bushings on my '66 the inner steel sleeve and rubber bushing came right out. I used a hack saw to cut a split in the outer steel sleeve, and was able to then twist each outer sleeve inwards and remove them.
You do not reuse any part of the old bushings. The new bushing should press in and open the "eye" slightly (about 1/8").