After my dealership maintenance disaster today- I went and fashioned a piece to take the filter off without mess- or very little.
used an old hot water bag, a chunk of plastic tubing and an old awl. Cut the bag down shallow enough to get up to the block, over the filter, and leave some drain room in the bottom. Stuck the awl through the bag- since it's rubber it's self healing and seals, and the tube is attached to the bag. It's like an automotive IV. Place the bag over the filter, a good whack with the palm of your hand on the awl, and let the filter drain out, down the tube, into the oil pan. Used this on a lot of our other vehicles, so I just modified it for the Ram with the horrible clearances. It's not pretty but it works. I have done this with 2L pop bottles too, just cut them, attach a hose, make a hole in the filter. Down the tube into the pan.
