[Roadie]

I think the reason is that it is an infrequent operation and they didn't want the owners to do it. Maybe Ford was concerned with Joe Blow getting dirt in the tranny. Maybe it was to help the dealers make money.

I put drain plugs in mine. Buy them in the "Help" section at Advance or Autozone and I had to also buy an oil pan drain plug washer with a rubber inner ring to keep the plug from leaking. Those hard plastic washers the kit comes with do not seal that well.

I bought an Isuzu pickup years ago and the manual trans had a drain plug and the differential had a drain plug.