Not sure how to describe it but I cannot envision things at all while reading technical instructions. I own a few Haynes manuals and they do nothing for me no matter how many times I read them. I have a very visual memory. I managed to add a lift, change my CV shafts, lower control arms and a couple of other linkages by watching youtube. After doing it once, I can replay it from memory but that's not something a book can give me.
You really need a service manual from the engineering team who built the vehicle. Haynes and Chilton are remnants from an earlier time, before normal people could obtain real factory service manuals. You’re definitely better off with YouTube than an aftermarket manual, but that’s not a high bar.
To be fair, learning many mechanical tasks for the first time is really a combination of fundamentals and application specific details (this can apply to most fields outside your expertise). As you mentioned, you can repeat the same task again mostly from memory. You could then extrapolate that knowledge to a different vehicle by referencing the application specific details in a quality service manual.
Videos are helpful because you lack the fundamentals, and they can be great for that.
Yeah, that's actually what I said in an earlier comment. I said a lot of people who instruct forgot that certain techniques they do are actually part of the process but it's so automatic to them they gloss over it.
Agreed with you that I rely on videos less and less as I go. But I just kind of tinker with stuff until I figure it out.
