LIVEAnimals
1/2 ton status
Which one do y'all have a preference for?
CK5
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Chilton or Haynes
- Thread starter LIVEAnimals
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If you look through one of each they have the EXACT same pics in them. Some pages even look identical. Really not much difference. Once in a while you'll find something in one and not the other. But not often and it could be either way
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Neither. Factory Service manuals are the only way to go. The aftermarket manuals just plagiarize the OEM manuals as much as possible anyway which is why all the illustrations look alike. These days, not many OEMs even print service manuals as everything is web-based, which is a good thing being they are loaded with errors. We find scores of errors in our manuals every day! At least a live web-based manual can be corrected at any given moment. Can’t say that for a Vatozone printed Hayes and Chilton’s. They are better than nothing though! 
Between the choices given I would take a Chiltons over a Haynes any day but if you want even better then get a Motors manual and even better yet a Mitchells manual.
EDIT: When I talk manuals i'm not talking about a model specific manual but rather the large manual that covers many models and several years of vehicles. Those are WAY better than the single model type manual.
EDIT: When I talk manuals i'm not talking about a model specific manual but rather the large manual that covers many models and several years of vehicles. Those are WAY better than the single model type manual.
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No vote for the military TM's ?
bigred88
1/2 ton status
Where's the option for factory manuals? They may cost a bit more, but they're worth every penny. I bought a Haynes manual once, for my wife's car, and it was so awful that it was almost useless. I have a factory manual for every car I own, and don't intend to ever purchase a Haynes or Chiltons manual again.
I'd rate Haynes slightly better than the others like Chilton's or Motor's,only because most of theirs include a wiring diagram,but in many cases its a poo reprint of the factory one thats barely readable ...
I'd rate Chiltons as the poorest,they often tell you to remove things that dont need to come off to do repairs,or the next page will have a "Warning--do NOT do this when you remove this part--AFTER you already did it!..best to read the whole procedure thru before putting a wrench to anything...example--the early Ford FWD cars had the front diff set up in such a manner,if you removed both axles ,the diff would drop to the bottom of the case!..
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...they decided to warn you about that on the page AFTER it said "remove axle shafts"and told you how Ford and aftermarket tool makers sell a plastic "dummy" axle shaft to insert before you pull both axles--why not put that in capital letters on the page before they say to remove the axles?.....you had to gut the entire transaxle to put the diff back in place....Sometimes I can imagine the authors who wrote the book having a good laugh over the un-nessasary work and greif they put us thru!...
"That'll teach them to fix their own cars!"..
Cant beat the GM manuals,I go to a library not far off in another town that has a lot of them,including the hard to find ones for wiring and vacuum/emission diagrams...they are so big you need a table to yourself to open one up and read them,and you can actually see where each wire goes,what color codes they are,etc...
I'd rate Chiltons as the poorest,they often tell you to remove things that dont need to come off to do repairs,or the next page will have a "Warning--do NOT do this when you remove this part--AFTER you already did it!..best to read the whole procedure thru before putting a wrench to anything...example--the early Ford FWD cars had the front diff set up in such a manner,if you removed both axles ,the diff would drop to the bottom of the case!..
....they decided to warn you about that on the page AFTER it said "remove axle shafts"and told you how Ford and aftermarket tool makers sell a plastic "dummy" axle shaft to insert before you pull both axles--why not put that in capital letters on the page before they say to remove the axles?.....you had to gut the entire transaxle to put the diff back in place....Sometimes I can imagine the authors who wrote the book having a good laugh over the un-nessasary work and greif they put us thru!...
"That'll teach them to fix their own cars!"..
Cant beat the GM manuals,I go to a library not far off in another town that has a lot of them,including the hard to find ones for wiring and vacuum/emission diagrams...they are so big you need a table to yourself to open one up and read them,and you can actually see where each wire goes,what color codes they are,etc...
I got a 1986 GMC manual if anyone needs it cheap?
Factory service manuals are way better then both.
THere used to be Chiltons specific that was good, more pro then others. Then a blanket coverage which sucks. I've never liked Haynes.
Factory service manuals are way better then both.
THere used to be Chiltons specific that was good, more pro then others. Then a blanket coverage which sucks. I've never liked Haynes.
Jessie James
1/2 ton status
eBay has factory manuals all the time. You just have to search properly and be patient.
They are worth their weight in gold. Forget about those cheesy Chiltons/Haynes ones.
They are worth their weight in gold. Forget about those cheesy Chiltons/Haynes ones.
bigred88
1/2 ton status
I've bought a few manuals through this website:
www.faxonautoliterature.com
They've always been as advertised. No guarantees they have it, though. Just have to look.
