I have a 2016 F-250 Super Duty and i was recently working on the seat and trying to get the lower cushion off. What a bugger of a job. The little clip for the reclining handle was the most difficult.

I can't for the life of me find a DIY manual from Chilton or Haynes like i had for my Saturn Vue and i have for my Santa Fe. I'm thinking they aren't allowed to make on or be sued.

Suggestions?

 

You can find copies of the Ford Workshop DVD and paper manuals on eBay. I acquired a copy of the 2014, 2015 and 2016 DVD's. The price is up a lot compared to what I paid a few years ago.

 

Here https://www.factory-manuals.com/expa...anual-326.html
I prefer books to DVD's

 

Have you purchased one from that link? Just wondering if it's the "real deal" or some knock-off.

I'm ready to purchase but want to make sure before I do.

 

This is the real deal here.

2016 F250/F550 Service Information CD-ROM - Helm Incorporated

I don't have any experience with the new electronic manuals but I've purchased paper factory service manuals from helm for my last 2 trucks.

 

I bought one for my 2016 last month. It's the real deal and comes specifically for your VIN. The only complaint I have is that it comes as one giant .pdf with no real index. However, it is searchable using Ctrl F.

 

I prefer the DVD's. I can print off the computer and not get the book greasy. Also makes it easier to search for a section. Also, the pages do not become tattered nor the binding come loose and the loss of pages.

That is like the Ford Workshop DVD's they sell on eBay. I have the 2014, 2015 and 2016 DVD's and all are loaded on laptop. I can run any of them at any time.

 

So I went ahead and purchased. You are spot on, it's just one big giant PDF and searching using the built in Adobe search is slow, mine was 6744 pages. So I found a tool call Index Generator by Openview Design. It creates an index of the entire document. You can customize the index to include or exclude words as well as customize the look of the index. I haven't figured out how to incorporate the index produced into the original PDF, but for now, I have a separate PDF file that is the index for the main document. When I want to search for something, I look in the index PDF, get the page number, then go to the page in the document. This works pretty good. I must say though, knowing what I know now, I think I would have just went the other way and purchased the official one with DVDs. Just in hind sight.

 

Holy smokes $177! DAMN!!

 

YEP, the cost of years of copyright copying.
third party company making repair manuals for Fords... a lost cause

but dealer is $100 per hour . plus parts. and going up again.

 

So I actually pulled the trigger and bought the CDROM from Helm. Amazingly old technology that CDROM is using. Adobe Reader 5 and Adobe SVG 3, both deprecated packages. FYI, if you don't install the versions on the CDROM, you won't have a good experience, at least I didn't. The wiring diagrams would not show up until I installed the older versions on the CDROM. But, I'll tell you this, compared to the PDF I got, I would certainly not do the PDF again. You can get somewhat of a table of contents to come up in the PDF by using a new Reader version which has a collapsible menu on the left side of the screen, which has some headings. But, as far as experience, even with the older Reader version, the CDROM is just better in my opinion.

 

Thanks for that feedback. So the manuals from Helm need installing on a windows PC? Where as the PDF version could be used on an Android tablet or a PC?

It's much easier taking the tablet to the shop than it is to go back and fourth from the office PC.

 

Yes, you must install the Helm manuals on a PC, not a tablet, unless of course it's a Surface Pro, then that would more likely than not work, since it's essentially a PC in a tablet body, more or less.

 

Can someone explain the difference between this Helm DVD for $170:

2012 F-Super Duty (F-250 Thru F-550) Service Information CD-ROM - Helm Incorporated

And this Helm DVD for $1450:

2012 Complete Truck Service Information DVD - Helm Incorporated

They both seem to have the same item description.

Thanks.

 

I only have the $170 version and the PDF version that was offered by another company. I'm not sure what the $1450 version has to offer. I can only assume that there must be some difference between what is offered on the CD-ROM vs DVD as the DVD will hold much more data than the CD-ROM is capable of handling.