What a pain in the *** on my 4.6L engine. My mustang was easier than this. I had no problems until it came time for me to pull the old filter out and get the new one tight. Hard has hell to get it in there, without spilling **** all over you.

Is there a trick to make this easier?

 

turn the steering wheel a little bit

 

if you are planning on keeping the truck for a long time, use the opportunity, if you have an oil cooler up front, to install a remote filter assembly. Should be readily avail at Summit or JCWhitney. My 5.4 4x4 came w/ it and it is laughibly easy to get to.
And if you don't have the oil cooler up front, think about adding one. Worth it's weight in gold, if you ask me.

 

I don't understand, my 4.6 is so easy to change the oil. Is the filter mounted verticle on the left rear of the engine? I just put the pan under it and loosen the filter till it starts to drain. Let it drain for a few secs. Unthread the rest of the way and flip it face down in the pan. I used to work at Jiffy Lube years ago, so maybe seeing all the imports just makes it seem easier. I thought my 5.0 was a major pain in the butt. Good luck to you and all your oil changing endeavors.

 

I punched a hole in the bottom of the oil filter and let it dran out as much as posable and then remove the filter. Works for me. Good Luck

 

Try cranking the wheel full right. It seems to move the steering components out of the way somewhat making a it a little easier to get in there.

Some of the early (97's, etc..) came either with a remote filter already installed or with the vertical filter. I think they all come with the location over the crossmember horizontally mounted now. I could be wrong. On later models they also included a little drain underneath the filter that routes oil out much more nicely than my version - it just spills all over the crosmember. Poking a hole in it results in the same mess, so I don't even bother.