That's what it is according to my manual- that's totally nuts. I'm seriously starting to think that Ford puts stuff together to frustrate DIY. I'm still working on removing the driver's side CV axle after a whole day of it yesterday. When I've done this on any other vehicle, I'd have that suspension apart and axle removed/replaced and back together in about 5 hours. After more than 5 hours, and the most difficult experience I've ever had with a ball joint- I still don't have the axle out. The ball joint isn't Ford- except that it's tight, which is good. The axle placement and transmission design is. There's no way to use a simply pry bar or pickle fork like with every other FWD transmission I've ever worked on. You must have a special tool. I hate that. The same goes for the placement of the alternator- a commonly replaced part on any vehicle- with the Dtec, you have to pull the axle from the hub in order to have enough room to remove the alternator. That's insane, and irresponsible engineering IMO. I can understand it with vans, but I can't understand it with cars.
I know this is heresy, but if you guys want to see a vehicle that's easy to work on, go pop the hood of a Corolla from about 99 up. The alternator, starter, and intake manifold are at the front of the engine compartment. I haven't looked at everything on that car, but I know when I popped the hood on one, I was impressed with how they had moved accessories around since the 95 model I once worked on where the starter was under the intake which was in the back of the engine compartment.
I just can't see it any differently than Ford simply doesn't want us to work on our own vehicles.