Well, it's all said and done. I just opted to leave the hoses on the springs, 1: they weren't going to come off easily, and 2: I decided that they came that way for a reason.
Once we got the rear struts off, I saw the sleeves the how to was talking about on the stock struts. There's pleanty of room on the struts for the hose to stay on the bat springs. I think it help the spring fit tighter in the strut too and means no clunking down the road. Now why can't the front be just as simple as the rears were. LOL
Thanks for the suggestions guys.