FIRST QUESTION

I am looking for a serious manual for my 97 Mazda B4000 and my
daughter's 99 Ranger (3.0L).  Given that the two trucks are twins, I
suspect one manual would cover them both.

I have the Haynes manual and it was a waste of money -- fuzzy photos,
poorly indexed.

Back before Hurricane Katrina cleaned my out, I had Nissan-produced
manuals for my Maxima and my old Nissan Hardboy truck.  These were
excellent manuals -- detailed instructions and diagrams; clear photos;
easy to find what I needed.  Ditto for my old VW Beetle manuals -- I
forget the publisher but the manuals I have for old Beetles are
excellent.

What manuals does anyone out there recommend?  Does Ford publish a
maintenance manual that's available through dealers?

NEXT QUESTION

How in the hell do I pull the plug wires off the plugs?  I tired to
replace plugs and plug wires on my daughter's Ranger and could not get
the damn plug wires off the plugs -- I grabbed the boots as tightly as
possible and pulled as hard as I could.  I even clamped the boots with
Vise-Grips -- nothing doing.  Taking the truck to the dealer tomorrow
and let them worry with it.

Anyone else have this problem??  As I recall from my days of working on
old Beetles, I always put a conductive anti-sieze compound on the plug
to prevent just this thing from happening.

THIRD QUESTION

What brand and type of plugs does everyone use on their Ranger/Mazda
trucks -- 3.0 and 4.0 L.

Thanks.