I'm changing my oil tomorrow and switching to a full synthetic (mobil 1) and its usually a pain to do it myself with out a lift....so i went to my friend who works at a monroe muffler to see if i could use one of his lifts...anyways when i told him that i was switching to synthetic he first asked me how many miles i had on my X ('02 with 22,000)...he said that with higher miles when a car is run on regular oil and switch to a syn, that the seals and rings or something tend to dry or crack which may cause leaking, but around 30,000 to 40,000 mile is where you should be carefull with the switch...is there any truth to this...he also said that if you use a blend for a while and then go to a full syn that this can help..any comments?..thanks

You're just dandy. Too early (under 5000) might not let the break-in complete, and too late (over 100k) you might run into seal issues, but 22k is fine.

What's this about needing a lift? The X has great clearance underneath to get at the drain and filter, no jack/ramp/lift necessary, unless you just can't stand laying on the ground a bit.

Brent

Yep; it's fine. Is your Xterra lowered? I'm a big guy and I can slide right under the front of my truck to change the oil.

I changed my oil yesterday. Grab a 10mm and a 14mm wrench and go to it. You dont need a lift.

I had a 91 Aerostar that I bought used with 90K on it. I started using syntec from that point on I changed the oil every 5k and when I traded it in with 170K on it the engine was still spotless.

Not a problem. Started the X at 6,000mi and switched the car (98'monte carlo-60,000mi) to Mobil 1 5-30. The car is at 80,000 now without any problems(well,oil leaks anyways)
Mobil 1's web site has alot of good info,FAQ's etc. www.mobil1.com

note-be careful not to break the skid plate bolts