97 v8 5.0 awd Rb_Layne

I'm 21, love to drive my explorer it's a beast. Its my first vehicle I have fully owned so it is special to me of course. I want to improve as much as I can while also keeping it nice and treating it well so I can make it last as long as it possibly can. when it does ****, I wanna be able to fix it and try to hold on to forever.... I never did get my license at 16. State laws and inconvenience prevented me from getting them after I was 18. I still don't have them just yet but I will very soon. Like within the next month at the most. So I'm at the point where I want to get the explorer in optimal condition before I start driving it regularly. I'm self taught and I don't claim to be an expert. But I'm a damn quick learner and I am very mechanically inclined. Once again thanks ahead of time for any advice or help I may get from you in the future.