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The beauty of this type of filter wrench is it tightens its grip as you apply torque to the ratchet, putting plenty of clamping load on filters that have been overtightened, without overstraining your hands and arms. Not enough leverage? Use a longer ratchet! As you can see, this filter put up one hell of a fight. However, that Craftsman wrench made it possible to remove this filter without too much effort (which was installed by actual ASE certified mechanics). Without our handy filter wrench, we would have been reduced to the messy caveman practice of hammering a screwdriver into the side of the filter to get it off.
Bonus tip: When changing oil filters, always be sure that the gasket comes off with the filter.
If you double gasket your oil filter, the entire contents of your crankcase will spew out in a matter of seconds the first time you start your engine (ask me how I know). This is the reason you pre-lube that gasket before installing your fresh filter: that little smear of oil prevents the gasket from sticking to the engine block. It is incredibly important to make sure you don’t leave the old gasket on, but checking for it is something most oil changing for n00b tutorials overlook. Consider yourself warned.
