Auxbeam placement help

[gatornek]

I got a sweet deal on Black Friday for a Rough Country lightbar that I coudln't pass up. I've been waiting on my Auxbeam purchase to get it installed though, because I want to make sure to get the Auxbeam in first because I definitely want to add a couple of other gadgets in the future.

So now I'm just looking to see where y'all that might have these guys, ended up placing them.

The criteria that I've been using:
1) I preferably don't want to tap anything. If I can ziptie it in place or even better, nut and bolt it, that'd be awesome. But maybe tapping it into the plastic cowl in the back isnt a bad idea.

2) I need to obviously have the ability to open up the auxbeam box? I see that adding devices is easily done on a side port. Not sure how often I may need to actually go into the box and change a fuse or what have you. So I'm not sure how truly important this is. But I feel tucking it away somewhere, where I can't open it up would end up being a bad idea.

3) Lastly, I'd like to keep it on a cooler side of the engine compartment, I guess towards the corner of the battery would be best. I also imagine that this corner would allow me easy acces to the firewall port so I can run the cable inside to the console.

Here are some pics of what I was thinking, but the pics aren't that great. The car was parked in a bad spot, and the sun was at an awful angle. I'm all for suggestions or pics of your setup. Thanks in advance. I've never had one of these.

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[CrazyKZ]

Here's where I placed mine. I have full access to the box to add more switches.

 

[gatornek]

Here's where I placed mine. I have full access to the box to add more switches.

Awesome, so I guess Im not the only one who thought about attaching it to the plastic cowl. Did you have to remove it to properly drill a hole to run a bolt through it? Or did you just use a tapping type screw that will give it enough oomph to hold tight?

Same question for the console piece on the lower part of the dash? Remove the trim and drill? Or just tap with a screw?

Thank you so much for your assitance.

 

[CrazyKZ]

I actually had someone else (Ford) install it, so I'm not sure. The console piece was easy. No disassembly required. Just used a self-tapping screw to hold the bracket to the trim, then attached the button unit to it from the sides. Easy access and not really seen by anyone but me as I'm driving.

 

[gatornek]

I actually had someone else (Ford) install it, so I'm not sure. The console piece was easy. No disassembly required. Just used a self-tapping screw to hold the bracket to the trim, then attached the button unit to it from the sides. Easy access and not really seen by anyone but me as I'm driving.

Thank you.

Last question. Did your installer use the cars ground wire (looks like its bolted on with a long hex), or did he use another natural ground somewhere else. My gut would be to just use the car's ground, but I've never seen a ground wire affixed the way it is. Almost looks like a rivet. Hadn't had a chance to give it a torque yet to see for sure.

 

[CrazyKZ]

Thank you.

Last question. Did your installer use the cars ground wire (looks like its bolted on with a long hex), or did he use another natural ground somewhere else. My gut would be to just use the car's ground, but I've never seen a ground wire affixed the way it is. Almost looks like a rivet. Hadn't had a chance to give it a torque yet to see for sure.

I'll have to look later. I think the main ground for the Auxbeam is going straight to the battery. I've got lots of stuff going on there.

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