After reading a few stories of bent axles I decided I needed to strengthen my front axle:

My option were welding in new inner sleeves $$
Hammering in new inner sleeves $
Getting a new front end and swap4ing gears over $$$$$

My set up is 2014 JKU with duratrac 315/70/17 and 2.5" AEV lift.

After calling my local, and only, 4x4 shop who want to charge something ridiculous for welding in sleeves (something like $1800 with gussetts) I decided to use the Nitro hammer in axle sleeves. I researched quite a bit and this is what I determined between the three

Welded sleeves: Great vertical and torsional strength with a moderate cost but it is time consuming drilling 12-16 holes per housing side and then you still have to weld

Hammer in sleeves: Cheap ($120 plus tools and such), good vertical strength, jury is still out on torsional rigidity but I've heard of people drilling a few holes after the sleeve is in and welding that way. I'm still nervous and they are in.... big issue if you get 3/4 of the way and they won't hammer home

New complete axle housing: Well who doesn't want this??? big money, best strength, regear option when you do it (more money)

So after contemplating for a while I decided on the Nitro sleeves and here is a basic write-up, I know I researched every possible forum before I opted to slam these sleeves in.

After ordering the sleeves the first order of buisness is to get parts and MAKE A TOOL to slam them in. I cannot stress how important this is, if the tool fails and your half way in, your screwed. Also make sure to put your sleeves in the coldest freezer you have set on the coldest temp. I initally used dry ice but it disappeared before I was ready to go. Ideally probably dry ice inside a freezer....

Parts List: TOOL, PB blaster, Mineral spirits, painting roller covers, something that the rollers will slide onto and be tight (I used a shovel handle), a freezer, BFH - ideally a 15-20 pound sledge (do not skimp on the weight!), high pressure lubricant (found some at autozone

Here is a pic of the tool I made:



Parts List: 18 inch long 1" black steel pluming pipe with threaded ends, 1" union joint, and a 1" steel floor flange
How to: This tool is super easy to make with parts from Home depot or Lowes - you will notice that the 1" union joint on the buisness end does not quite fit into the axle sleeve - you will need to grind the end so that it is round and then it fits perfect.... Do not use the 3/4 pipe joint setup as some have, it is not even closse to strong enough and I broke one in 3 strikes....

You may ask yourself whats the big deal with the tool:



Nuff said???

I believe the ideal tool to be a completely solid piece of metal that is machine to fit into the axle sleeve like the union joint does but would be totally solid - if you can fabricate this tool do it.. it will be the easiest job it the world if you have it.

So here's the process:

-Short side first: Jack up Jeep from Diff and place a jack stand on the axle housing - No need to drain the diff or pull the front cover.
-take off wheel
-Remove Speed sensor one of two way, unplug the ridiculous chrysler red clip behind the frame rail or remove in a couple steps
-Remove brake caliper mounting bracket - two 21mm bolts
-remove rotor
-Loosen three bearing hub housing bolts - three 13mm 12 point bolts
-With these bolts loose you can move the dust housing around and take the speed sensor out using a 8mm allen wrench and then slide it through the housing.
-Tie caliper to lower control arm with speed sensor
-Remove three bearing bolts completely
-My axle with stuck a bit so I flipped the rotor around, put three lug nuts on and used it as a slap hammer to lightly tap the axle out as one unit with the axle nut still attached
-lay axle on clean surface
-make sure to get the plastic dust guides out of the axle housing if they fell off (I tossed mine but you could certainly reuse them)
-now place the paint roller cover over your stick, shovel handle, dowel, whatever you decided to use and coat the roller in PB blaster

-in and out with the roller then repeat with mineral spirits, again with blaster, and again with spirits
-I had a little surface rust after some deep cleaning but didn't bother the install

Now for the install part:

-This is much easier with two people since your on a time crunch
-Have one person waiting with the tool, I drilled a 1.5 inch hole in a 2x4 to save my helpers hands from destruction
-whoever is hammering grab the sleeves from the freezer, have helper apply greese, helper places sleeve in housing (make sure its going in with knurles on the outside) and holds tool on 5 gallon bucket to help align things, then start swinging the sledge (helps if you stand on something to get proper height for a good strike), dont mess around too long the sleeve is getting bigger as it warms up and with every swing on the sledge from friction heat.
-keep going till your flush and wipe off the excess lubricant.
YOUR DONE!!!
-put everything back together and have a cold one!!!!

Repeat with the long side - For me the short side (drivers) was a breeze and the long side took some effort - most are having a hard time with the short side....

Here's a video of the long side install - cut it short but you get the idea - I come running in from the freezer section.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6dgxUCKRtA&list=PLJ5QsyD-homRtGSUjRybXi3rbSFZKWX0f&index=2