Once again, sorry for replying to an old thread. Thanks to everyone on this forum, even "old" information is helpful to those of us who are just joining the BS community.
In an effort to try to pay it forward, here is some potentially helpful info on two hitch options:
Draw-Tite 76436: Rated class 3, this is a VERY heavy duty (and heavy!) hitch. Built like a brick you-know-what-house and bolts to the factory bumper beam supports. Seemed like a good idea because you remove the bumper beam (weight save) to add the hitch in it's place. NOTE: This hitch DOES require cutting out a section of the lower fascia (roughly 4" x 5").
Pros: Heavy duty, mounts to the rear of the subframe rails where the bumper beam mounts, seemed like it would be a weight savings vs adding one to the bottom of the subframe, and I thought it was closest to a factory hitch without costing a small fortune.
Cons: Heavy! The factory bumper beam was much lighter than I expected, and after purchasing the Curt (see below), I don't believe this hitch even with the removal of the bumper beam results in an overall weight savings as compared to just adding the Curt and leaving the factory bumper beam in place. Also, you have to remove the entire rear fascia to install this. It's not difficult. but removing the two 8mm bolts from behind the rear wheel well arch moldings is a real pain. You are almost guaranteed to break some of the clips or retainers that hold the clips. Very disappointing. These vehicles are almost designed to be assembled ONCE and never taken apart again. My Draw-Tite was shipped without a box by UPS, and it looked like it was dragged behind the truck (anyone remember the opening scene from Ace Ventura? I think that's how it was delivered!). Still can't believe it. When I processed the return, they told me I had to put it in a box. Hmm. Seems like a double standard. Also, the factory bumper beam extends further towards the RH and LH sides of the vehicle. This seems like it would leave the outer edges of the BS more susceptible to damage if hit from the rear in an offset crash or on an angle. I didn't particularly like that. The final nail in the coffin for this hitch was the height. Talk about reducing departure angle. This hitch hangs down at least 2" lower than the factory hitch. If you're planning to go off road or bought the BS for it's ground clearance or departure angle, this is NOT the hitch for you.
Curt 13474: Also rated class 3, but as has been correctly stated by others, you have to use the LOWEST rating of the system (hitch and vehicle, whichever is less - just because you can bolt a class 3 hitch to a Yugo doesn't mean it will pull that much weight!!). The lowest rating of the system defines your max towing limit. There are SAE specs that must be met to advertise a given trailer tow rating. I can't say for sure which requirement is not met at the higher weights for this particular vehicle, but there is something causing Ford to limit it, and quite frankly, I would NOT trust ChatGPT to give me the correct answer for why the 25MY is rated to tow more. It MIGHT be right, but you have to double check anything you get from it, and in reading its response, I'm not convinced that is specific to the BS.
Pros: This hitch is MUCH lighter than the Draw-Tite (weighing in right about 20lbs as I recall) and actually mounts with less effort than the Draw-Tite. Best of all, it's almost identical in height to the factory Ford hitch. I spent time today at a local dealer measuring ride heights and trailer hitch heights on several Badlands models (24MY BL, 25MY Badlands, and 25MY Badlands Sasquatch) and if I had an equivalent sized tire (coming soon!), my hitch would be within 0.25-0.5" of the 5+ vehicles I measured. Looking at the vehicle to vehicle variation (~1"), I think I am comfortable stating this is close enough to factory and I'm happy with the Curt for the price. This hitch actually came in a box, and was VERY well packaged with cardboard wrapped around portions of the tubing, plastic and tape around the receiver tube, and plenty of that expanding foam in the box. When I removed it from the box, the finish was first class and flawless. Good job, Curt!!!! The other pro to this hitch is I believe it actually has a BETTER departure angle than the factory hitch for one important reason. Even though the factory hitches technically measured 0.25-0.5" higher than the Curt I installed (tire size differences considered), the Curt has safety chain loops that are horizontal and only reduce the ground clearance by about 3/16" as compared to the bottom of the receiver tube. The factory hitch has vertical safety chain loops that protrude down an additional 1.75" below the bottom of the receiver tube. I have to believe this would give the overall advantage to the Curt for departure angle and ground clearance.
Cons: As noted, you do have to lower the exhaust. I only had to remove 4 nuts and loosened a 5th. This is not difficult and much easier than removing the entire rear fascia. Plus, there is less chance of breaking anything visible that would detract from the appearance of the vehicle. I highly recommend having a 2nd person when you are ready to put the hitch in place. I did it by myself and it CAN be done, but just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.
This hitch technically requires "enlarging" the holes in the side of the subframe to fish the carriage bolts in. I say technically, because I didn't want to grind on the subframe, so instead, I chose to take about 1/8"-3/16" off one side of the round head of each of the 6 carriage bolts by running them on a bench grinder for about 7 seconds. This essentially put a flat spot in the circular head when viewing it with the threaded portion pointing away from you (or towards you, I guess). I should have grabbed photos, but I didn't think about it Sorry! This allowed me to fish the plates and carriage bolts into the subframe without any grinding. If you watch the install video, this will make sense. Therefore, no removal of any e-coat or paint was necessary and hopefully, there will be less chance of causing the vehicle to rust. I'm certain that this small modification to the carriage bolt will have no measurable impact on the structural integrity of the hitch and I only wish Curt would have thought of this. NOTE: This hitch also requires cutting the lower rear fascia. I actually cut mine for the Draw-Tite and used the same cut out for the Curt. It worked just fine. In summary, if you are looking for a cost-effective (about 1/2 the price!) hitch that is very similar to the factory hitch, I would recommend the Curt. If you plan to use your BS in a demolition derby and intend to ram other vehicles while in reverse, the Draw-Tite may be just what you're looking for!
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