It all depends on the tires, how you drive, tire rotation, wheel alignment,
how well your wife maintains the tire pressure (sounds like she must be the
one responsible for vehicle safety), etc. Tire mileage varies and the
"mileage rating" is more of a way to *try* and compare how long different
tires might last under similar conditions - not a strict schedule to follow
for replacement. I once had a set of OEM Uniroyal Tiger Paw tires that still
had legal tread depth on them when I took them off - but the rubber was so
hard that they didn't have very good grip any more, even though they
probably would have lasted another 20-30k miles on top of the 80k they had
on them. They were legal, still looked fine, but really weren't as safe as
I'd like them to be.
How much longer do you plan to keep the vehicle? Considering your annual
mileage, if it's more than a year you'll most likely have to replace before
you sell/trade anyway, or discount your price to cover replacement. If
chances are good that you'll sell/trade before a new set would wear out, why
not replace now so you can enjoy the safety and benefits of the new tires
yourself, rather than giving all that new rubber away to the next owner.
Like many things, you can "legally" drive on tires worn past the point where
you probably aren't as safe as you'd like to be. Hydroplaning through a
puddle or sliding off a wet/snowy highway is not how you want to figure out
they're worn enough to need replacement.
I use a similar perspective when deciding when to replace a battery - when
it's reached the end of its expected life, I start watching for sales and
just replace it. I've been stranded by enough batteries that just plain died
with no warning (usually internal shorts) that I'd rather go with a
preemptive replacement. It's worth it to me to spend the $50 when it's
convenient instead of later, when you'll still spend the money and possibly
a couple aggravating hours dealing with it, usually at the worst time
(Murphy's law). If you wait 'til replacement is the only option and the dead
battery ends up stranding you somewhere, you'll wonder if it was really
worth putting off spending that $50 bucks just to try and get another 6
months out of it. True, some can't afford (or seem to find) the money to
make a repair before there's no other choice, but for me it just isn't worth
the hassle of dealing with unexpected problems. Lots of people think
otherwise, and there are plenty of towing companies that make a good living
off of them.
Just my 2 cents.
Steve
"Just Ray" <raymond.kode@thomson.com> wrote in message
news:1113495215.639276.181780@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Hello everyone,
>
> I own a 2002 For Explorer.
>
> It's coming up on 60,000 miles.
>
> I think it's time to replace te tires but my wife does NOT.
>
> Does anyone know home many mile the original tires were "supposed" to
> last ?
>
> IE: We they the 50 k variety ?
>