Topic: mounting position electric box on winch bumper

[viper]

I am in the process of mating a winch (ENGO-9000) to the front winch bumper (Shrockworks) for a 2000 Xterra.
I am trying to figure out where to mount the electric box.
I have attached pictures for 2 possible positions:
1) top of winch bumper
     - exposed to sunlight (plastic box) (-)
     - easy accessible (+)
     - potential clearance issue for short cables to winch (-)
   
2) tucked inside winch bumper
    - protected from branches, obstacles (+)
    - leaves top bumper free (+)
    - impossible to access once bumper is mounted (-)
    - shielded from direct sunlight (-)
 
Can anyone come up with good reasons for or against either method ?
Alternative ways?

If I go with option 2 (tucked inside), could I get away with sticking it to the sidewall with velcro (covering the whole box) or is it best to screw it in ?

I myself am leaning toward option (2) but was wondering what kind of mess I can wind up in.

[ultrapc40]

I used to have mine on the inside. If you can mount it to the other side of the wing it's not so bad.

[JFanaselle]

I would put it somewhere a little more accessible, since you need to plug the control into it and what not. A lot of people mount them under the hood, but that usually requires extending the cables. If you must have it in the bumper, I'll second Spencer's suggestion to put it on the other side of the divider you're holding it up to in that image. Then it would be behind the passenger side "wing" of the bumper, which is more exposed and easier for you to get to. Remember that your rad skid will eliminate your access to the area you're holding it up to.

Putting it on the outside of the bumper isn't a terrible idea - remember that a lot of jeep guys mount these on top of an exposed bumper and put the solenoid box right on top of the spool, exposed to all of the elements. That being said, it won't look pretty and the sun does kill stuff pretty bad around here, so the plastic would take a beating.

[Ruination Fan]

I mounted my superwinch with it inside. I extended the harness for the controls and the remote plugs into the connector ontop of the bumper. I used the "D" shaped hole on the left side for the controller connector.