What are the wheel specs on a 2002 explorer?

[bsu541]

I'm a new explorer owner and confused..

I went into les schwab and they only had 1 wheel that would fit my truck. Commercial tire only had 2. They both said I have a rare wheel size. It's 17x7.5...

So I'm looking online to buy wheels now and don't know where to look and what specs to get. I know I'm looking for 17x8.5 inch black rock crawlers though. I just don't know what to look for when it comes to backspacing and offset and all the other specs they list... any help would be appreciated. Online is the only way to go, tire stores around my city have a terrible selection...

 

[Dobermann]

:exp: I had lesschwab in Springfield, Oregon tell me the same thing. Tires on the 17.5" wheel are expensive in comparison to the 16" size that is very common these days. I had some quotes taken and a set of tires would be around $850.00 on average.
The interesting thing is that you should be able to run a 16" wheel size without any issues according to the folks at Tire Factory. The guys there told me running the 17.5" was just a "factory option" and the mounting 16" wheels would be very easy to do. However, I have no basis for any evidence of this claim holding true as I have not tried it out. My wheels and tires are still stock.
I'm thinking of just saving up about $900-1000 and putting on a brand new set of the Toyo Open Country MT's on it.

(http://www.offroaders.com/tech/AT-MT-Tires/Toyo-Open-Country.htm) -For Pics and reviews.

I'm also curious if anyone has changed wheel size on a 2002 Explorer and what issues/ successes they have had.