The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Shop manuals?

I am in the tear down process of a 1961 Apache short bed step side right now and am considering a shop manual purchase. As always, I'm hoping that this community of stovebolters can point me in the right direction. I recently picked up the assembly manual off ebay but I'm looking for a manual that will give me specifics of bolt sizes, torque specs, etc. Is the shop manual with supplement the best way to go or is the Truck Shop Manual CD Rom the way to go through LMC? Input appreciated....

You can get reproduction shop manuals from most of the specialty aftermarket suppliers. Generally from $25 to $30. I like a manual that I can set on the bench to look at. Of course you can always print out pages from a CD and accomplish the same goal. Either way it's important to have this kind of info to help with your project.
Fred

If you go with the printed manual, make sure to check if the prior year manaual is required or not. Sometimes, if the bodystyle was a carryover, the manual from the prior year was used and a suppliment manual was published that only covers any changes in specs or new options. I'm not sure on the '61, but a couple of examples would be the '56 and '59, both need the prior year manual to be complete.

I agree with Fred, I have both the manual and the CD. I think I used the CD once. It is much quicker to grab the book than go to the computer and try to print out a picture or two.

Thanks folks. I just ordered the shop manual and the 1961 supplement from LMC. 2nd order in a week. They're gonna love me.....HA

You did the right thing. Having separate sources of info gives you you the bigger picture. You should also get the sales brochure. They (LMC or most of the other vendors) also have books on chevy truck history that I have found useful.

Thanks Bigmacdaddy, I will add that in my next order from LMC. I almost picked them up last night but was caught up in the decision to buy the wheel dollys. Thank again.

Hey if your gonna get wheel dollies, let me share my experience.
I bought two pair from Harbor Freight and while I could move the light rear end of my truck around, there was no way, repeat no way the front was going anywhere with one 250 lb man pushing on it. I even tried jacking it up to align the casters in the desired direction. Nada. BTW, I have a 235 under the hood, not any V-8 and was on concrete. I just think the HF are junk. I have contemplated using come-alongs or winches to move it. PITA.

Sorry for stealing the tread, but it seemed about done. I have CD manuals for the Lincoln & F**D, but paper for the Chevy's.
I prefer paper.

57_StepSide,

No apology for thread stealing here. That is exactly the input I come here to read about. Hopefully the LMC dollies are better quality. I will report back. On the Harbor Freight topic, I've experienced the same issue with a parts cleaner replacement pump. 3 attempts later, I gave up and threw the Master Catalog in the trash. I am not typically frustrated that easily but after 3 times, I was done. Thanks again for the feedback.

NorthDM

Here is where I like to buy my manuals.

http://www.gregsonline.com/

Harbor Freight is CRAP. You must be very careful what you buy there. NorthDM I will be making the wheel dollies buy soon so will be watching for your results on the LMC buy.

57_StepSide,

The LMC wheel dollies came in tonight and I put them together, jacked the truck, placed them underneath and "VIOLA", they work awesome. I did take a moment to clean the floor up a bit of any debris and gave er a shove. It actually travelled over 2 feet unassisted so keep your hands on your ride when you do this. HA.

2nd order from LMC, happy both times. So far so good.

NorthDM