tire blow out, almost

I had a little more fun than I cared for yesterday. I went out to the field to pick up a truck with someone. We were on our way in when I heard a loud noise and then the pick-up started to shake violently. I let off the gas and coasted for a moment and then started braking when I knew I still had control of the pick-up. I checked my mirrors and could see pieces of tire behind me and I thought I had blown a tire. Sort of. When I got out to check the tire, it was still on the rim and still inflated. Unfortunately, the tire was missing the tread from about half of its surface. It was down to just the steel belts. It looked like the tread simply separated from the tire and did a nice number on the fender as it left the vehicle. I knew new tires were in the not-too-distant future for the pick-up, but I had been keeping more of an eye on some slightly uneven wear on the front tires. This is as good an excuse as any to simply get new tires for the pick-up all the way around. I thought I would have them today, but apparently the tire place we work with doesn't stock what I think is a very common tire size for field pick-ups. They had only one BF Goodrich Mud Terrain 265/75R16 in stock. People don't buy tires one at a time! Well, some people do, but they really shouldn't.