Haven't had to work on a truck in a while but this is starting to get very expensive paying people for my '96 1500 SLT. I'm taking a refinance on my house to eliminate payments on this thing so I figure I'll try to rebuild things before they break with the payments im eliminating and build it more heavy duty a little at a time. Anyway, the point of this is in the title: which book would be more novice friendly?

 

Oh, and which ones troubleshooting section is better? I'm pretty good with a wrench and assembly, its figuring out what the heck is wrong that I can't do!

 

I like haynes. Had one for my 91 dakota and now I have one for my 98 ram

Cheers
KayakMan

 

Before you go and spend the money ... go to the top of the main 2nd Gen forum and click "Top: SEC. GEN RAM INFORMATION". There you will find the 2001 Factory Service Manual. It's 5 years newer than your's but it's a) free and b) MUCH more in depth than EITHER of those other 2. I've used them all ... Haynes and Chiltons are very general in nature.

There will be a lot of differences but most of the data will be good

 

Both Chilton & Haynes are very general. but they are good for some quick high level searching.

don't have one for my dodge, but Chilton came in very handy for my Honda.

 

Thank you SO much for saving me the $15 to $20. Got to replace the alternator tomorrow and while I was calling the parts stores they were all asking me how many amps it has. I'm thinking "how the hell should I know, you're the one with the computer you tell me" I even game them the part number off the alternator and they still didnt know. Five minutes of the manual you sent me to already cleared that up for me! It's been a tough world to me this year, I'll gladly pocket the twenty bucks and spend it on whatever breaks on me in my life next

 

Thank the moderators who posted and maintain it ... I just pointed you to it.

I remember when there was no Haynes and Chiltons was the only choice. Back then (mid 70's - I had just started playing playing with cars) it was worth a flip. I've watched it devolve into a general service manual. I guess it really had to as there is less and less the average person is expected to be able to do on their own vehicle. The "do-it-yourself" folks need a Service Manual. I bought the complete set (6 books) for my `98 about 5 years ago. I use them often.

Serpentine belt ... carry a spare. [8D]

 

pantyhose dont work anymore?

 

I do NOT want to meet the woman that you get THAT set of pantyhose off of! [:'(]

 

two legs dude.. two legs... or just get the XXXXXXXLONG ones.... man that's a lot of panty hose though...

i have a haynes that i bought before i joined the forum. i like the fact that it has a maintenence schedule thing in it. kinda helpful for things to start looking for. if you want i can scan you some pages and email them. just send me a private message (pm) of what the topic is you're looking for and i'll send them over.