96 Ford Explorer V8 Radiator

Well the new (made in China) radiator is in. Appears there are no leaks. I've replaced radiators in older cars, but I've got to cuss the idiot who designed the way that the condenser is attached to the radiator. Someone must have earned his master's degree in autocad to design this cluster ****. Now I know why I paid more than $25k for this truck new - to pay the engineers who don't have a clue to keep it simple. I'm sure when the truck was built that the condenser and radiator probably went in as one unit. What should have taken a couple of hours took most of the day. Of course the Haynes Ford Explorer Automotive Repair Manual was of no use - "Remove the radiator mounting bolts. On 5.0L V8 models detach the plastic clips at the bottom of the radiator that hold the condenser to the radiator (they are on the sides and simply don't just detach). Carefully lift the radiator up and out of its lower mounting pads....yeah right.

Just to continue my rant against Ford engineers, last year I was going to change my thermostat. Two bolts, a little sealant around the gasket, replace the hose that goes between the radiator housing and water pump and I'd be done with it. What can be so difficult about replacing a thermostat? Well the brain child engineers at Ford decided that the hose between the thermostat housing and the water pump should be one size at one end and another size at the other end. Of course I had decided to do this on a Sunday so the Ford parts department wasn't open. Fortunately, I didn't cut the hose off and was able to use the old hose. What would be so hard to cast the thermostat housing fitting the same size as the water pump fitting and use a piece of heater hose that would cost 50cents instead of the $9.00 5" length of hose that Ford designed?