Use chassis as neutral wiring?

Is using chassis as neutral wiring (black) between gang switch ie. Auxbeam 8-way switch and load; bar light, ditch light, compressor safe?

 

Chassis as Ground point?

 

There’s no neutral in a DC System so I’m not sure where you wired that connector from the frame to.

 

As long as the chassis and wire are large enough to carry the load.

Myself I would run direct from the battery and if needed make my own ground bus bar.

why black ? Unless you got a good deal on a Spool of that color.

 

black is the standard wire color for a hot wire so I’m guessing he got a deal. Neutral wires are typically white unless a local design standard says otherwise.

 

Ah my bad, I'll stick with black wiring. can I connect black wiring from gang switch on chassis while red wiring goes all way through/under truck to the load ie. aux rear light then connect black wiring from load on chassis. Shouldn't it returns back to switch through chassis as closed loop, will that work?

 

That's true for the cult of NEC aka residential electron pushers, but typically automotive convention is red = hot, black = ground/negative.

There are different ways to skin a cat, but I think if you are using the Auxbeam unit specifically you'll want to run ground back to the fuse/module box. Read their instructions, it should tell you how to do things.

 

that is true but by the title description I assumed he was speaking of AC cabling. I am not aware of any neutral wiring on our trucks other than for the 400W inverter and that is referenced only back to the inverter itself. Maybe he’s speaking of DC negative connections hence the miscommunication.

 

Anything with a high current motor (engine starter, winch, compressor) should have ground wire going back to battery with few junction points. If You get a poor connection to chassis for these the result is a voltage drop across the junction with results the motor will pull more current to compensate for low voltage. Low voltage = higher current = runs hotter = short life.
Lights are more tolerant of low voltage so could be used with a chassis ground but will run dimmer if there is poor contact with the chassis.

I avoid chassis ground for reason that steel rusts and rusty steel makes a poor conductor. Painted steel is non conductive so you need to scrap paint away to create a chassis ground which will rust over time eventually creating a poor connection. If you choose a chassis ground then look for an existing tapped hole or stud so you don’t need to remove paint and electrical contact will be through the threads.

in my case, running two wires is just as much effort as running a single wire and I bring all my ground wires back to the tapped hole just behind where the battery ground strap is attached. That way, if there is ever a problem with a ground I know where to look.
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I ran a chassis ground for a 12volt outlet in the bed, I was having issues with voltage drop and running the fridge.

I wish I just ran the dedicated ground from the beginning.