I just recently got my first car, a 97 4runner with about a 142k miles on it. Ive done some wheeling in it, including some mud holes and some beaches and I must say I absolutely love the truck! Ive done some stuff to it myself like taking off the running boards and installing KYB MonoMax shocks in the back, but I have some questions.

Ive been doing a lot of reading on this site and on T4R.org, a lot of which has been very helpful, but now that its come time to change the oil and air filter, I have some questions I havent found answres to. The guy who owned it before me used 5W-30 dino oil every 3000 miles. Ive read a lot about using 0w-30 synthetic. I plan on going full synthetic, but I dont know what weight. I keep reading about 0w-30, my gearhead friends tell me use 10w-30, the guy before me used 5w-30, and a mechanic told me to use 10w-40 because its an old engine.0w-30 sounds good, but I dont know if it would be bad for an engine with as many miles as mine. Any recommendations on decent oil filters would be helpful too, unless they are all about the same.

I want to replace the air filter as well as the guy before me had in a K&N filter, and I havent read the best things about those on this and other sites. I also want a filter I dont have to oil and everything. Any recommendations on replaceable, maintenance free air filters would be great.

Oh, and lastly, I keep reading about seafoaming and engine, but then I read that you can really mess things up. Is it neccessary or even safe?


Thanks in advance everyone