Beatty MetalWorks High Clearance Rear Winch Bumper For 5th Gen – Review

Beatty Metal Works (pronounced baity) has stepped in with something no one else has pulled off until now: a production rear-mounted, high clearance winch bumper. This is a huge leap forward for those of us who adventure solo, wheel in deep snow/mud, and want full self-recovery capability from the rear.

The bumper is built from hot-rolled carbon steel, CNC-bent 1/4″ plate, and precision-cut. It is stout without being excessive, with a super-minimal appearance. Through extensive CAD modeling, Beatty MetalWorks was able to position the weight at around 170 pounds, which is impressive considering the material thickness, build quality, and built-in features. The good thing about the weight is that after you remove all the rear crossmembers and your spare tire, you’re only gaining about 120 lbs.

Features & Benefits

• A36 P&O (Pickled and Oiled) Hot Rolled CNC bent plasma/laser-cut carbon steel
• 3/4″ thick recovery points
• 1/4″ thick frame mount brackets
• Standard satin black powder coat finish
• Optional dual swing outs
  • Heavy-duty South Co. hot-dipped galvanized compression latches to reduce rattling
  • Dual taper-bearing greaseable hinges with seals for durability
  • 1″ hinge bolts for maximum rigidity
  • 1/2″ thick lower hinge shears
  • Stainless steel hold-open latch wear pads
  • Swing-out tire carrier fits tires up to 315/70/R17
• Fits 12.35″ x 3.25″ x 1″ thick Hawse fairleads (Agency6 & Factor55 compatible)
• Requires Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM) sensor relocation on 2022-2024 models
• Up to 10K Winch Compatible
• Weight:
  • Tire carrier arm: 35 lbs.
  • Accessory panel arm: 33 lbs.
  • Receiver hitch bumper: 160 lbs.
  • Rear winch bumper: 170 lbs.
  • Installation removes approximately 35-45 lbs. of truck weight
• Off-road use only: requires frame modifications and trimming of the stock rear bumper body panel
• Requires cross-member delete and removal of OEM spare tire carrier cross members for winch versions

Swing-Out or No Swing-Out?

The version I’m running is the bare bumper with no swingouts and the winch option only.

That means no tire carrier or accessory swing, just the essentials: high clearance, winch mounting, and strength where it counts. Beatty does offer swing-out versions for this bumper, but I chose to keep it simple in the rear on this build and reduce the weight as much as possible.

You also have the option to run an aftermarket hitch receiver if needed. Beatty offers that option on their configurator, although we have not seen one with a hitch receiver yet.

THIS… is one of the most low-profile, capable, and affordable rear bumpers we’ve ever tested on the 5G 4Runner.

Fitment & Installation Overview

The installation is almost identical to the Nguyen Works bumper.

Like the Nguyen one, this does require a frame chop, something to be aware of before diving in.

Once prepped, it mounts using a robust combination of four 1/2″ and two 5/8″ Grade 8 bolts, which do require drilling into the frame. In addition, it utilizes the four OEM M12 threaded holes (where the factory tie-down loops bolt up) with class 12.9 hardware, so it’s not going anywhere once it’s torqued down.

A total of five massive bolts per side are holding this bumper in place; two of them are 5/8″ through bolts on the frame rail. I will have a follow-up installation guide for those who are interested.

If you’d like a step-by-step installation guide, I can write one. Let me know in the comments below. I did take all the photos of every step of the process. And it was… a process.

If you don’t work on your 4Runner often, you will want to take this one to an experienced off-road shop.

Winch Compatibility

Beatty designed this bumper around winches with manual clutch levers, but due to access limitations inside the rear bumper shell, you’ll need to clock the winch and/or use a clutch lever extension to engage free spool.

My setup is running the Open Road 4×4 Winch, but Beatty has confirmed fitment with the Harbor Freight Apex and Warn Zeon 10K. The Apex is popular among customers for good reason, since you can’t clock it; you simply hit the reverse button instead of trying to reach the lever.

For a premium option, the Warn Zeon Platinum with electronic clutch works flawlessly, but it does come at a $2K+ price point. The Open Road 4×4 is a super affordable winch that’s actually working out great so far. We already used it once for a recovery, and it did great. It comes with two wireless remotes and comes pre-wired as well.

Why Run A Rear Winch?

I’ve been off-roading many times with my buddy, who has a rear winch mounted on his 3rd Gen Tacoma (StellarBuilt Aussie Taco), and it’s unbelievable how much that winch is used when we go out. From pulling someone out behind you to winching yourself back from being high-centered, and most importantly, winching yourself back out of a snow drift or mud when you’re out solo.

Whether you wheel with a group of guys or go out solo often, this is such an amazing tool to have on the trail. I used to go wheeling solo often and always wanted a rear winch, but the options for running one were ugly as hell. Hitch receiver-mounted winches? No, thank you. They destroy your departure angle, get in the way when you’re accessing the cargo area, and just overall look big and clunky.

You might not think you would use a rear-mounted winch a lot, but it comes in very handy in specific situations. If you wheel enough, you can probably recall a few times you’ve needed a rear winch. Having the option to use one will make your life a whole lot easier on the trail in those sketchy situations where there are no front winching options available, and your only options are to go back.

To top off the functionality, Beatty just made it look beautiful. When you think about a rear-mounted winch bumper, you might think big, clunky, and very heavy. Not the case with this unit.

Low-Profile + Functional

I don’t need to go into extreme detail on this one. Just look at it.

The design is incredibly minimal, the lip on the edge of the liftgate is small enough to look streamlined, all while still providing enough surface area to step on if you need to access your roof rack. The fairlead mounting surface is recessed into the plate design, which tucks the fairlead/shackle package in quite a bit. That said, if it were tucked in even more to prevent the shackle from hitting rocks on big ledge drops, that would be some icing on the cake.

The side profile on the wings is a pure work of art… so simple, so clean, and just fits the 5G D-Pillar body lines like it was meant to be there from the factory. I remember seeing a DIY rear bumper around 10 years ago on the T4R forum… (no way, it’s still up – check out this bumper) and always wanted a super minimal design like this. Plate design, but very low-profile with clean body line consistency.

I haven’t been this stoked on a product in a long time. The design + functionality together make this product of the year, in my opinion.

High-Clearance + Rear Belly Skid?

We tested this bumper on quite a few trails over a week-long trip and couldn’t seem to hit the bumper very often… which is a good thing. That just means we’re not hitting hard enough trails. The bumper provided more than enough clearance paired with our 35″ Arroyo M/Ts to gap rocks on level 5-6 difficulty trails out here in Northern California.

Underneath the bumper, you will find the winch cradle, which doubles as a rear belly skid. The entire plate protects the underside of your body. If you wheel enough, you will come across the occasional rock that gets stuck under your vehicle and will roll under the entire belly before it comes out the back. This belly skid will protect against those big, random boulders that become loose under your vehicle.

Beatty has gone through a ton of revisions on this bumper, over a year in R&D, and I really think that he may have created one of the most impressive low-profile, high-strength, highly capable rear bumpers we’ve seen to date.

Strength

The bumper is high clearance, low-profile… and incredibly strong.

Not too many bumpers on the market can say that. The Nguyen Works bumper, for example, is very low profile and high clearance, but not what I would consider over the top in terms of strength. Which is okay, it’s a great bumper, very pretty design… but I’ve seen it in person on some very popular builds over the years. After a few big hits, that bumper starts to take on new shapes. I’m not knocking that bumper, just pointing out the difference in something like Nguyen Vs. Beatty. They are two totally different looks, serve different purposes, and at the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide what’s right for you.

I guess I am just calling attention to the fact that we haven’t seen a rear bumper check all these boxes before, until now. Beatty is high clearance, low-profile, incredibly strong, and packs a winch inside!!

That’s actually insane.

Welded Recovery Points

Like most bumpers, you will find two 3/4″ thick recovery points, and those are being supported by 1/4″ thick frame mount brackets.

Crossmember, Tube Supports & Gussets

The 1/4″ thick crossmember replacement frame mount brackets are being held in place by 5 pieces of Grade 8, 19mm bolts on each side… and two of those bolts are through bolts. The center frame rail bolt locations need to be drilled out, but once they’re out, you have two 5/8″ Grade 8 through bolts on each side of your frame rail.

On the outside of the bumper, you will find 1.5″ tube supports that support the frame rail to the wings. Added support you don’t see on many bumpers.

Finally, the plate designed is gusseted throughout. Check out this photo of the bumper to see a little more detail inside.

Who Is It For?

This bumper checks a lot of boxes: it’s extremely functional with the integrated winch, simple and low profile, high clearance, and can be optioned with swing-outs.

If you’re serious about wheeling and you’re constantly doing recoveries on your rig or other rigs, this one is for you.

Even if you’re not wheeling very hard and you’re more into the basic overland dirt road, this is still a great option for you.

I don’t think this bumper is only for one segment of the off-road/overland crowd. It’s rowdy enough to party with the most hardcore rock crawler yet simple enough to look good driving around town, all while offering the dual swingouts for the guys looking to go on long expeditions.

Final Thoughts

I think I’m done here. Low profile, high clearance, winch compatible, incredibly strong, swingout compatible… yes.

The only thing that could be better is that the fairlead/shackle could be tucked a little better inside the plate design. Curious to see how many hits our winch shackle is going to take in the rear over time. But for now, I’m stoked. Very impressed with this offering from Beatty.