I have a ford f-350 that I took in for it's regular maintenance this week.  The Ford dealer said that the left rear tire had two cuts on it and the tires needed to be replaced immediately. 

Well, I was not convinced so stopped by the place where I had gotten the tires - they have a road hazard warranty and free rotation and all that. 

He looked at the tire and said it wasn't a deep cut, didn't go throught he whatever and was fine.  I said, well, at least I should move it to the front before I pull a load and he said he wouldn't even do that.

Except for the last part - not moving it to the front - he seemed right.  He was going on the fact that the tire doesn't lose air, ddoesn't have a buldge and doesn't seem that deep to him.

I'm not inclined to change the tire out completely but ambut may decide to move rotate.

Any opinions.  (horse trailer is 5680 or so pounds empty gooseneck and I pull a heavy bumper pull utility trailer but maybe not some much this winter).

 If the cut is in the thread and does not extend into the cord, it may be used as a spare. This can be verified by sticking the tip of a common screwdriver into the cut. If you see white fabric cords, it's done, useless. With your screwdriver, you can also measured the depth of the cut. But holding your finger nail on the screwdriver at the rubber surface and withdrawing the screwdriver, you can visually see the depth of the cut. Compare this to the tire's thread.

If the cut is in a sidewall area, you will have little choice but to discard the tire. A deep cut will damage the cord. If you feel that the tire has some serviceable life to it, use it as a spare, for your truck or trailer. The location of the cut is important.

Do not place a suspect tire on any part of your truck. We had a front tire blow out, our trailer and truck jackknifed twice and we easily could have been seriously hurt. Fortunately our trailer brakes straightened the rig out and we were able to stop safetly. The blown tire caused ~$2500 damage, and several day's downtime for truck repairs.

The safety of you, your family and your most prized possessions is more important than a $200 tire. Rotating it will not make it any safer.

It has a road hazard warranty so it won't even be expensive to replace. 

The cuts are on the side of the tire where the tread starts.  The original seller tire guy stuck something into them and said they were fine, but.......he said a couple of things that indicated that his standard and mine may not be the same - like "is is leaking air?"  "there is no buldge" but he also said that it had not gone to the cord.

I can investigate the depth, too, but maybe it's better to just replace it like you both suggest. 

Good grief, if I replaced every tire that had a cut I would be in the poor house.  Not having seen the tire, I agree with your tire man; not leaking air, no bulge, and not cut to the cords....then I would run it.  But you certainly should NOT put a suspect tire on the steer axle, blowouts on the steer are considerably more 'work' than a b/o on the drive.

It's your money and your nerves though.

I don't have many nerves:)  That is one of my weakenesses and it means that I need to ask the opinions of others who have a better handle on what's safe.:)

I'll investigate the depth, but it seems like replacing it may be better.  My concern about replacing it is more related to having a new tread on one tire and half-tread on the others.  I've always heard that that is a no no on 4wd vehicles.

I appreciate all of the input.

Thanks all.  I saw PaulC's post and have been trying to get a photo (which should be easy enough, but you know how things go sometime).  At this rate, it may be after Thanksgiving before I get back to this.

Thanks!