If there’s one thing that sets our diesel trucks apart from all the other pickups on the road, it’s the loads they experience. It’s not just that our diesel engines, transmissions, and axles weigh more than the gas-guzzlers’ parts, it’s also because our trucks tend to haul a lot more around with them, too. Add in the fact that we have more torque on tap to be transmitted to the ground, and you can appreciate the challenges our trucks pose for tire designers.
| The Maxxis 771 Bravo A/T tires have proven to be a solid all-around utility tire on our F-250 test vehicle. The tires offer far more function than fashion—and that’s a great thing when you’re in the market for something you’re going to drive on every day. We had our local America’s Tire mount a set of 245/75R16s on some stock ’99-to-’04 Ford Super Duty wheels so we could put them through their paces on the super slab of Los Angeles.
So when shopping for new tires for your four-door, 4x4, diesel - or 1-ton truck, you want to make sure you’re buying a product that can handle the loads. The Maxxis 771 Bravo A/T (we tested the 120Q load index version) is just such a tire and may be the perfect candidate for those of you looking for all-terrain capabilityalong with a rugged foundation that’ll get the job done.
On The Job
To us, the 771 Bravos felt just like a new pair of work boots. They were fairly rigid when Abel Arreol’s staff at America’s Tire in Glendale, California (818 507-6049), mounted them on our Super Duty wheels, but rather than make us feel uncomfortable, we found peace of mind in the protection they provided. We loaded the truck down with 1,100 pounds of Dana 60 axles from the junkyard right after the tires were put on, and we could feel the added support the 771 Bravo’s 3-ply sidewall construction gave us.
And much like when going to the dump or job site, junkyards always seem to have a bunch of tire-tearing debris in the parking lot. With nearly 8,000 pounds pushing down on the rubber, even dull metal shards can work their way into lesser tires and cause a premature puncture. This is where heavy-duty 7-ply tread construction tires like the Maxxis 771 Bravos really shine.
Street
The 771 Bravo is about as smooth rolling as an all-terrain tire can get. Maxxis actually describes the tire as having a stiff but conformable carcass, and we think that’s an apt description. Like any good foundation, you want a stable and sound structure supporting what you’re doing above it, and these tires do just that. We’ve put more than 2,500 miles on the Bravos you see in the photos, and they’ve not only worn well, they’ve also started to feel like our favorite pair of boots that we’re happy to have oneven when we’re just hanging out on our days off.
Super Duty Wheels
We bought the wheels we used in this test from a guy selling them on Craigslist. The ad listed them as Ford eight-lug aluminum wheels. Fits ’98-and-older trucks. $200. We thought that was a pretty good deal for four factory forged-aluminum wheels, but when we went to go look at them, we realized something seemed odd. It turns out the wheels weren’t the ’94-to-’97 forged-aluminum Alcoa pieces Ford used (which had an 8-on-6.5-inch wheel bolt pattern), they were actually the ’99-to-’04 Super Duty wheels (8-on-170mm wheel bolt pattern.) A previous owner had the wheels machined to change the wheel-bolt pattern to work on the older Ford trucks. The upside to this modification is that now the lug holes have steel inserts in them. We can’t say for sure if modifying wheels like this is worth the cost, but at least we now know it can be done.
Maxxis 771 Bravo A/T Specs:
- Tire Type: Radial
- Tire Size: LT245/75R16
- Overall Diameter: 30 inches
- Tread Construction: 3-ply polyester + 2-ply steel + 2-ply nylon
- Sidewall Construction: 3-ply polyester
- Tread Depth: 1632 inch
- Overall Width: 9.80 inches
- Approved Rim Width: 7 inches
- Maximum Load (tire): 3,042 pounds
- Maximum psi: 80 psi
- Load Range: E
Ford Super Duty Wheel Specs:
- Wheel Size: 16x7 inches
- Weight: 21 pounds
- Bolt Pattern: 8-on-170mm (converted to 8-on-6-inch)
- Load Capacity: 3,750 pounds
