Pit Bull Maddog Radial Off RoadTires

Pit Bull is one of the newest tire manufacturers to make its mark in the off-road scene, but the company has certainly gained a quick reputation for ultra-aggressive tires that work excellently off-road. Until recently these off-road tires have been limited to bias ply versions, but now Pit Bull is releasing some new radial versions of the Maddogs (that we tested) and the radial Rockers.

What really peeked our interest is that Pit Bull has decided to take a different approach to tire construction than some unnamed older monster mud tire makers took long ago. They saw how many fullsize heavy-duty trucks were driving around on giant balloon tires with light-duty load ratings. These heavy-duty trucks with big light-duty tires are too often seen loaded down with junk and pulling huge trailers that are clearly too much for the light-duty tires' carrying capacities. This type of situation puts everyone on the road at risk, and that's just not acceptable.

Knowing full well that the radial versions would see their way onto lots of fullsize trucks, Pit Bull decided to take the Maddogs an extra step by adding a much higher load-carrying capacity to match the needs of today's truck owners.

We were able to run a set of 38.5-inch Maddogs on an F-250 Super Duty to see how they'd hold up to the chore of lots of weight and work. Unfortunately, the tires became available to us in the middle of May and there's been no rain and certainly no snow in Southern California to test these in. We'll have to revisit the Maddogs in the future to tell you how they handle deep mud and snow. Stay tuned....

Specs As Tested
Make/Model:
Pit Bull Mad Dog Radials

Mounted On:
16x10 Weld Racing wheels

Size On Sidewall:
38.50x13.50R16

Load Range:
D

Max Load:
4,080 pounds

Tread Depth:
21/32

# Plies in Sidewall:
2 polyester plies

# Of Plies In Tread:
2 polyester plies, 2 steel plies, 2 nylon plies

Weight Of Tire:
88 pounds

Measured Diameter Unloaded:
38.63 inches

Measured Width Unloaded:
14.10 inches

Measured Tread Width:
10 inches

Available Sizes:
38.5 inches at time of testing (more sizes coming soon)

Available For:
15- to 20-inch wheels

The new Maddog radial has...        read full caption The new Maddog radial has a fairly aggressive tread pattern, but doesn't have an overly knobby tread that sticks out and catches sheet metal. The center tread blocks have siping in them to help during wet and icy road conditions. We tried out a set of 38.5x14.50R16 tires, but other sizes should be available by the time you read this. We put the tires onto some old Weld Racing wheels. Weld is not currently making wheels for the off-road market, but the ones they used to make were bitchin'.	In the Dirt The Maddogs seemed...        read full caption In the Dirt The Maddogs seemed to have fairly good control in the dirt and carved pretty well (for what carving we could do in a Super Duty). Even under the giant truck, they still floated pretty well in sandy areas. The next time it rains, we're going to dip these tires in the mud and let you know how they do. If they work anything like their bias ply brethren in the goop, then we think we're going to be very pleased.	Fully inflated
At 10 psi	At 5 psi	Make no mistake-these tires...        read full caption Make no mistake-these tires have an aggressive tread pattern that will just keep digging instead of sitting on top and spinning. They are excellent heavy truck tires, but also have the earth-moving capabilities to make them a competent off-road tire.
Since the Pit Bull Maddog...        read full caption Since the Pit Bull Maddog radial is a heavy truck tire with a high load capacity, we figured we'd try it out towing as well. The tires didn't track too hard with a trailer on the back, and didn't get too much louder either when loaded down on the rears. There was minimal bulging on the rear tires even with the trailer loaded up, and the Maddogs definitely exhibit traits of a tire able to work properly on a heavy tow truck.	Overall Impressions The Maddog...        read full caption Overall Impressions The Maddog is a great looking aggressively treaded tire and the new radial technology just made this tire something you could roll on everyday. It's a bit louder than some other tires we'd put on a fullsize truck, but that was expected with the high void ratio this tire's tread carries. It doesn't track too badly on uneven roads, and street handling seems good too without too much sidewall flex on pavement. The siping on the inner tread block will definitely improve icy and wet road conditions, but we have yet to be able to test them in such due to the time of year.