It may be a first time cap, not for sure, but it may be. Your comment on brands is an important one. I have 2 virgin Ohtsu steer tires only a couple years old with about 2500 miles on them and the sidewalls are rotted completely. I asked a more replutable tire guru about it and he said quite simply, I got what I paid for. I knew the truck got few miles per year, so did'nt want to spend a fortune on the tires. I would have been better of buying used tires of good brand (which I wont state for obvious argument reasons) instead of the cheap junk I bought new.