1997 Explorer bad bearings, tire cords showing and "not much breaks"

you know tires are made from many layers...one layer is steel belting or cords...you never cut yourself on a bald tire been tossed at ya?...these things will rip the flesh...best to take them off and recycle them without touching them...first the "wear bars" become visible....time to replace 3/32 of an inch...then as they get balder they will wear down to the steel cords...this is where you are at....severe under inflation can cause premature wear as will misalignment of the front end...just buy another set of tires and be confident that you will have the machine under control then~

I want to assure you we HAVE in fact stopped driving the truck right now. I know it is't safe, and we don't want to risk anything, especially with us expecting a lot of snow soon. I am fortunate enough to live in a small city that offers affordable buses running every day but Sunday and plenty of taxi companies to use at other times until I can get my breaks fixed. Judge thank you for explaining that to me, I have noticed metal on old unused tires before just never knew what it was called. If needing a alignment would wear down the tires that explains why the cords are showing as those tires were not quite brand new, but only slightly used, and shouldn't have worn down in the amount of time since I got them. The truck isn't grinding or howling at all. After I had my spark plugs replaced the hard idle sound has stopped (i had 3 of the 6 not connecting replaced all 6) and the truck isn't making any noise anymore. Thank you for your help I appreciate it!

Do you remember bias-ply tires?....are you that old? like me...before radial tires....cheaper with an innertube~ you would not get hurt from one of these rippin' at your flesh....ahh the good ole days~

I am just 25, and have never heard of them sorry, unless they are the same as those little spare tires that cars use that are typically ca,,ed doughnuts?

Tools are required to change a wheel bearing and service the brakes. If you do not have tools you will have to bring the vehicle to a shop to get the work done. DO NOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE IF THE BRAKE PEDAL GOES ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR.

My front tires r going the opposite direction of each other