Opinions on Haynes Truck manuals vs. Chilton

[Jeepdad]

For my Jeep I liked the Haynes manual. I plan on getting one for my '95 F150 tomorrow. What's your opinion on the Haynes Manuals vs. Chilton Manuals?

 

[DNFXDLI]

Personally I find them both too generic and vague...I prefer the actual shop manuals.

 

[95F350XL]

They will help you with alot of stuff, but if you can get your hands on a FoMoCo 1 for your year, that would be way better.

 

[O'Rattlecan]

I've had a few chilton's in my time and I've never been even close to satisfied.

Ryan

 

[TexasNomad]

I keep both.. I've found when used together they are much more helpful

 

[5.0Flareside]

Ford Shop Manual. Im trying to get around to getting one for my truck.

 

[smokey]

I keep both.. I've found when used together they are much more helpful

Nothing beats the Ford service manual. I have the ford manuals for some of my cars and trucks.
The Haynes and Chilton are kind of generic but way better than nothing. But very annoying at times when it says take to to a real Mechanic or it says remove part but does not say you have to remove 3 other parts to get said part off.

 

[john112deere]

I've found an actual error in the Haynes book for my Ranger.

I noted the correction in my copy, but it's one more reason I don't really trust the book.

That said...I still slightly prefer Haynes to Chiltons, if they're the only two choices.

 

[lil_dq]

I've had both and for a guy who works on alot of his own stuff I prefer the haynes manual. seems easier to follow than the chiltons. but like tex said, if you use them both together I am sure they would be a great resource. And I think if you find an error you can call them on it and they will adjust their new books.

 

[Jeepdad]

I can't afford the shop manual at this time, and the Haynes has helped me alot in the past with my Dodge and Jeeps. The drawback to me with the Haynes is they go into unnessecary trivial stuff and quickly glaze over the hard to figure out stuff.

Example: To change the Alternator.... First ,get plenty of shop towels to clean hands when finished, but make sure they aren't your wife's favorite linens.
Get hand soap from the local supermarket or Walmart or other approved soap vending location.
Find all the tools you'll need to change out Alternator, double check before starting procedure. see fig.11.b.
Make certain there are no children or pets to distract you from the job at hand.
If there are children or pets present call the parents or guardians to get the children to leave the work area.
Do no procede until the children are no longer present.
Spread newspaper under vehicle, make sure your wife is done reading it before you take it. see. fig. 11.c
Disconnect battery terminals.
Change Alternator.
to clean up area reverse the procedure.
Take used newspaper to local recycling center.
Wash hands with hand soap and shop towels.

Other than that I like the Haynes manual, especially for some of the trouble shooting guides and wiring diagrams. I've had a Haynes missing some pictures that said were there, and sometimes the figure pictures don't match what they are describing.

 

[Blue Goose]

Hahahahaha ....Reps for that!!!!

 

[Jeepdad]

Thanks Blue. Actually they go into even more detail than that on unneccessary trivial junk. But it's better than nothing in most cases. And it helps when they tell you which parts need removed first.
I wish I could afford the proper Ford manuals, but for now I gotta settle for a Haynes. Only a few years ago you could get the Haynes for about 13 bucks ....now they are 25 skins everywhere I look! Jim

 

[conanski]

I always reach for the Chiltons first, I have a Haynes but I find it's missing a lot of detail the Chiltons has(though it's not perfect either), and specs are often presented in table format which is easy to find versus having to search through the text in the Haynes manual.

 

[Skandocious]

I've got the FoMoCo manual for my truck on DVD and it's great, but to be honest I was actually very impressed with the information in the Chilton's manual that I bought. Even with my FoMoCo manual I still use the Chiltons sometimes.

 

[Reid04]

There are some actual shop manuals on Ebay for some fairly reasonable prices once in awhile.

 

[DNFXDLI]

Pretty cheap to buy the manuals on CD's

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