Nice, yeah there are low where branches can't tear them out for some reason.

 

Hate to tell you this, but you just shortened the lifespan of the regulator. I say this as an EE. Heat kills electronics, and don't forget, heat rises, this is precisely why we mount heatsinks ON TOP of the device so it can dissipate the heat upwards, and away from the device. The way you have your VR mounted now will force the heat to rise on itself (instead of away from) the VR. Flip the VR 180 degrees and you'll be good. Just my friendly two-cents worth.

 

Keep driving and the breeze will cool the heat sink. A fan could be implemented if required. Plenty of big computer 12V fans available cheap. gut them from a dumped computer.

 

How about a computer heat sink on the other side that doesn't have one?

 

I’m not an expert, but how little I moved it, And the fact other companies make brackets that do the same thing, I can’t imagine it would make a huge difference over the life of the machine. Do I believe it could shorten the life span of the voltage regulator sure, but I think it will be negligible, and lifespan would be short if a rock or branch got into the wheel well with the way it was sitting anyway