Finally got the wheels and tires. Big kudos to Discount Tire /Americas Tire for working with me. I have gone to them for years and have always had great service and support.
Rig: 2002 E350 EB Cargo 7.3 Agile TTB with 2" Lift. 3.55 gearing
Tire choice was BFG KO2 - 285/70-17. I was really tempted to go larger but had too many people I respect saying
285's to save the potential headaches. Fortunately the next size up in the KO2 in 17" was 315/70, so the decision was made for me
For wheels I wanted the MB TKO's in 17x9 but offset was +18 which caused interference with the tie rods. Found that out at the shop during install. So plan B was offered to try a set of Level 8 Pulses at $70 each. These were mounted on a vehicle for less than a week and were virtually brand new. Killer deal! And if I did not like them, I could bring them back for full exchange. They were close enough to give it a shot; man, $70 each???
Lived with them for a few days. The color of the centers was sort of close to the van color, but they were mismatched enough to where they could look like they were a bargain deal
. Plus, the polished part had no other chrome or polished surfaces to match the van's overall look. Nice rims, but it all looked a bit off.
So, back to searching, and up pops the Raceline Raptors - available in a 17x9 with -12 offset/4.5" back space/3500 lb load rating . Perfect for us (although I know zero offset is desirable). Five of the Raptors with KO2's, and Beastie is look'n pretty good to us.
Even though we've put minimal miles on the KO2's, they feel pretty darn nice. Quiet, track well, roll nicely, no rubbing so far, but haven't driven on anything extreme (yet
) . Looking forward to testing these out further!