Rear bumpers with integrated hitch and towing?

I've been eyeballing rear bumpers and I noticed that there are several options that increase the clearance by integrating the hitch into the bumper itself.

How reliable are these for towing, I'd be worried that it would be unsafe to tow another vehicle on a trailer, a larger uhaul or a camper if I went with this option.

They often say something like this which isn't really assuring to me , so I'm looking to hear what peoples experiences with them have been.

• While not rated for towing, our bumper has been tested to tow comparably to the OEM capacities

 

I have the Brute Force Fab high clearance rear bumper and tow Regularly with it. I do need an 11 inch drop hitch, but I've had zero issues and have towed thousands of miles. I went with Brute Force as it was a good price, and the hitch is reinforced more than any other High Clearance rear bumper I've seen.

Can't find a pic directly behind the hitch, but you can see one of the gussets directly below it, and the large tubes that are welded to either side of it in the picture below. It is plenty stout.

 

Wow, that’s a big load. Heers

 

because certification, and liability of maintaining that certification when installed by a third party are massive liabilities. certification alone can cost tens of thousands of dollars. for a bumper that any given company might sell 5 in a year.

you're not going to get any official rating beyond that statement simply because they're dodging the liability of stating it is capable, and you're a competent bumper installer.

considering the factory tow hitch is really just a few bolts through the frame, i really think you're going to be fine as long as it's bolted through the frame similarly.

 

It's definitely a judgement call. I would stick to well-known fabricators, although I don't think I've really seen anyone other than the top fabricators make high clearance bumpers with the integrated hitch. Most of the cheap stuff that you would have to worry about quality wise are simple bolt on bumpers that keep the factory hitch.

One thing that I think aftermarket bumpers have going for them is the hitch is more in line with the frame, vs. OEM that has to drop down. I didn't get the sense that the OEM hitch was anything special when I removed mine, if anything I think the aftermarket options get built beefier, as it seems easier to reinforce everything between the frame. My At the Helm bumper is fully welded to the cross tube between the frame mounts, welded to the exterior bumper face plate, and seems to be adequately gusseted. OEM relies on the tubing itself alone to support the actual receiver. I'm going to invest in a quality drop hitch, after that I personally wouldn't hesitate to tow anything that I would have towed with the OEM setup, although I'm in the camp that believes if you are towing anything over 3-4k pounds regularly, you're far better off in a full size.

Factory hitch (not my picture):


At the Helm bumper:

 

What's wrong with a bumper hitch, the one I have is rated for 3500 pounds. Plenty to pull my utility trailer and Mule.

 

I have a standard At The Helm rear bumper, I regularly use a mountain bike rack with it, so I had them put the hitch under the license plate.

It's very strong, gusseted everywhere I could think of, and honestly it has to be stronger than the factory mass produced stuff. I've towed a few things with it such as a 2k lb utility trailer several times. No issues.

In my experience the high clearance bumpers with integrated hitch are usually braced even better than the standard replacement bumpers are.

 

I use the Apogee Offroad rear bumper and it tows just fine. They say they have "unofficially" pulled over 9,000 lbs with no problems but they don't recommend doing that. I needed to get an extender since they recessed the receiver slot for some reason. It bolts on with M5's and I have no reason to worry that it is not secure. https://www.apogeeoffroad.com/shop/p/toyota-tacoma-front-bumper-gen3-6afh9

 

what brand specifically rates their integrated bumper hitches to 3500 pounds?

 

Haul Master receiver hitch