Lisle 53500 Standard Swivel Grip Oil Filter Wrench

Why it's worth it

A stainless-steel band wrench with a swivel handle, sized for standard passenger-car filters between roughly 3-1/2 and 3-7/8 inches. The band self-tightens under load, so the harder you pull, the less it slips — the opposite of how pliers behave.

This is the wrench for a filter someone else installed. Shops torque filters with air tools and no spec, and the result is a can that laughs at pliers. The Lisle's band contracts as you apply force, so increasing torque increases grip instead of causing a slip. Owners who came to it after a plier wrench started denting their filter describe it coming loose almost immediately.

The swivel handle is the other half of the design. It lets you set the band on the filter and then pull from whatever angle your engine bay actually allows, rather than the one angle a fixed handle permits. In cramped bays — the Mustang and F-150 crowd bring this up — that's the difference between turning the filter and not.

From our review of 8 oil filter wrenches, by Ben Carter, Tech Editor

What we like

• +This is the wrench for a filter someone else installed
• +The swivel handle is the other half of the design
• +The band is a full inch wide, which spreads the squeeze across more of the canister and keeps it from crumpling

What to know

• –The size range is narrow and specific: roughly 3-1/2 to 3-7/8 inches
• –It's spin-on only. On a plastic cartridge cap it's useless and potentially destructive