Hahahaha. I have an 85 Bronco II in my garage at home. Just waiting for the day I can restore it.

 

Got it done. Since I know I'm not the first to run into this problem I'll lay it out.

All of us with 97-03 4.6L F150s who do our own oil changes know the pain of this simple task. Draining the oil is simple enough, the hang up comes at the filter. For me I had the VO-105 filter on it and replaced it with the FL-820S. To get the old filter off I used the trusty screwdriver in the filter trick and spun it out that way. Although a hassle I didn't have the correct tools, a strap wrench is a joke here. For the future I will be purchasing a claw as shown in other threads. The next task was getting the new filter in. Going from the bottom is just physically impossible. After taking a step back I fed it through the wheel well, then climbed underneath. Got it on that way. Now I'm all done. Hope this helps the next guy or girl out.

 

Fun ain't it

 

Subscribed incase i forget lol. (Just a helpful reminder you should also lubricate the chassis at oil change time)

 

Had same issue with the wife's Mountaineer. We used to take it to an oil changing station out of convenience, wont say the name. They used the smaller and cheaper oil filter. When I decided to start doing the oil change myself, the auto parts store gave me the larger Motorcraft filter. I would stick with the larger Motorcraft filter for your truck. It just seems logical to me that the larger filter would do a better job.

 

Time for a remote filter? Love mine on my 97 250 LD. Located right behind the front bumper.

 

97-03 Modular v8's, turn the front wheels all the way to the right, and filter access is very easy.

 

I dont have that problem with a solid axle up front tons of space.

 

Just got initiated to the small filter experience.

The small filter that was on my 2002 V6 Explorer was a Valvoline VO-105. Here is a cross reference list:
Valvoline: VO-105
Purolator: PH2500
Fram: PH10575
Pennzoil: PZ-173
Wix: 57502
Mighty: M500
Champ: PH500

I hope this helps.

 

My 98 has a filter just behind the bumper on the driver side- I haven't had it long enough to change the oil. I figured it was a filter for the transmission because it was right by the transmission cooler. I'll have to look now tomorrow when I get home and see what it actually goes to...LOL
My 03 Screw is as hard to get to as described above-maybe someone changed the 98 to make easier access (Ihope- 'cause that filter placement is a PITA.