Just wondering if anyone can suggest a good manual for my truck. I know my dad had Chiltons when I was younger but really have not looked around yet. You guys have me wanting to do some of the upgrades mentioned on certain part's and I would like a good manual to reference parts, placement etc. Also would like to start changing my own oil stuff like that. I have a 2000 2500 quad 2x2.

Thanks

 

Factory service manual. Just ordered one for myself from Geno's garage, $85.
-P

 

Thank you. I appreciate it.

 

Think about what style you want to get, I bought a book version, which is nice, but kind of unhandy. I'm going to order the CD Rom version next so it is more convenient.

 

I prefer books. The CD I have for the engine is on a copy protected CD-X and if it is scratched, kiss it good bye. You also can not print anything out of that CD manual, so all I can do is look at the screen and do a screen capture and print if I want to take instructions into the garage.
I do not have yet a 30" flatscreen in my garage! I guess this is the real problem, not the CD.
-P

 

If you look hard enough, you can find a downloadable version online for free.

 

Well here, I'll take the hard work away and give ya a link. This is from a member of another forum. He does not have a 2000 manual, but the 2001 is pretty close. Heck I use it on my 99. Here is the link:

DO NOT POST LINKS to copy write protected material

 

Paul, you wouldn't happen to know if the FSM is the same way is it? I wouldn't buy one if I couldn't print the stupid thing!

 

Sorry, I don't know about the Ram FSM. My extra special CD is for the ISB engine, came with the 700 page Cummins engine manual. Can not be printed from the PDF file on the disk. I tried to crack it and everything, no joy. Will try to use Adobe SDK to open the file and programmatically extract pages but one shouldn't need to do this for something they own!
I prefer paper books anyway. I have been known to lay down and just read an FSM. Everybody thinks I am crazy.
-P

 

Funny you should mention this....I spend my lunch hour going over my 97 FSM...... The sad thing is I want to build in a small computer in the truck and have all my manuals on .PDF for road access...... Is that sick or what?

 

No, it is not! I think it is a great idea. I want to buy a cheap laptop (can be had for $75 off of Ebay) to just have references like the FSM, and navigation, at my fingertips in the truck. Is it a gadget? yes, but is it a nice gadget to have? of course! and, is it prohibitively expensive so that one needs to justify it to themselves? no, not really.
-P

 

You know guys there are pocket pc's out there for your pdf files, then you could take them anywhere you want. I have a laptop I travel with and it is a pain in the butt. Pocket Pc much better

 

Screens are too small for normal use. I use a PDA for navigation and GPS when hunting but laptop is a lot easier to use while driving.
The PDF in question, Cummins engine service manual, will only open from the Cummins CD-X using the supplied decoder program. If copied over to any other media, the file does not open with the message "unrecognized file format". Therefore, it will not open on a PDA that does not have a CD-ROM drive.
-P