How To Replace Old Analog TV

[lebjdixon]

Has anyone replaced their old Quaser TV that is mounted over the drivers head with a flat screen LCD HDTV? The old TV measures 22, so what size flat screen should I get?

I am thinking about mounting a swing out TV bracket for new TV.

I have a 98 Holiday Rambler Endeavor Diesel 37 ft.

Thanks for any help

[hermanmullins]

Measure the width of your cabinet. Then go to Sam's or Walmart and check out the width of their TV's. Then you will know how big you can go. I wouldn't mount it on a swinging bracket unless you have a method to secure it while in transit. If you have space on either side of your current cabinet, measure how wide you can go with a new unit. Our Monaco has a center cabinet that I am going to cut down before I mount our new Flat screen TV. Our current TV is a 27". I am going to be able to mount a 32" with no problems. I am going to cut down the depth by 12 inches and use most of the current frame .

Good luck on making the switch.

[shields]

Make sure to read the discussion under Tom Butler's posting in this forum. It's listed under the "coach modifications" heading and has lots of good advice, photographs, and suggestions. Good luck.

Tim Shields

[wolfe10]

Here is Tom's thread that Tim is referring to: http://community.fmca.com/index.php?showtopic=72

Brett

[NavyDad89]

We mounted a Vizio 26" LCD on a swing arm that was bolted just inside the right hand side of the original TV cabinet in our '99 Endeavor and were very pleased with the installation. I do have to say that the 26" LCD did not store completely inside of the cabinet for travel, instead, it swung in against both sides of the original cabinet (therefore leaving us a good, easily accessible storage area for DVDs in the cabinet) and I modified the original nylon TV hold down strap to hold the LCD against the cabinet for travel. Having the ability to swing the TV more to the center, front of the coach made it easier to watch from both the roadside couch as well as from the dining area. I believe the newer 26" Vizio sets are somewhat smaller in width as well as thickness but I have not checked the actual dimensions. We just purchased a 32" Vizio for the house so we could move the 1 year old 32" Vizio to our new Florida room and found the newer one is 2" shorter and almost 3" narrower than the other besides being a good 1 1/2" thinner. (the speaker system sounds better in the older one but since we have a surround sound in the living room it doesn't really matter too much.

[wolfe10]

I would caution anyone contemplating the use of a house-type wall mount for a TV to VERIFY with the manufacturer that it is designed for the much higher stress levels encountered in a moving vehicle (as compared with mounting it in a stick home).

Brett

[tbutler]

Thanks for directing lebjdixon to my posting - it's nice to have friends! My original posting has been added to recently and now contains photos by another remodeler. That posting show a swing out design with room for a desktop computer behind the TV. I'm sure there are many other good ideas out there so if you tackle this project, take pictures and give us an additional article.

[lebjdixon]

Thanks for the information.

Navydad, was your 26 in Visio installed over the drivers head in front or in the middle of the cabinets? My TV cabinet is above the drivers head.

[NavyDad89]

Thanks for the information.

Navydad, was your 26 in Visio installed over the drivers head in front or in the middle of the cabinets? My TV cabinet is above the drivers head.

Ours was installed so that the TV was stored for travel directly in front of the original TV cabinet with a swivel arm mount that was bolted to the right hand side of the box as originally installed in the Endeavor. I used the heaviest duty swing arm mount that Walmart carried and drilled 3 holes to mount the swing arm to the side panel of the TV box with short 3/8" carriage bolts. That way, when we were parked, the Vizio could be swung out from in front of the original TV location towards the center of the coach for better viewing from the roadside couch. In the swung out and over to the right position, the TV was about 18" to the right of where the original TV was located.

When we prepared for travel, the TV was swung back against the front of the TV cabinet which had foam 3/4" wide by 1/2" thick self stick insulating tape up and down each side just inside the front edge of the original cabinet face that prevented the back of the TV from contact with the wood cabinet box. I had cut the original TV face trim and reinstalled the bottom and top parts so they provided a small shelf that the Vizio's case sat on when travelling. The Vizio was secured from bouncing or swinging out over the driver's head by a 1" wide nylon strap with an adjustable buckle that was screwed securely to the inside top and bottom of the cabinet.

[lebjdixon]

Thanks everyone for the replys, I'm sure we can figure it out, and get it to work for us. I will post pictures soon as we can get our flatscreen installed. Everyone was very informative, and thanks to you Navydad, for the info

[lebjdixon]

Ours was installed so that the TV was stored for travel directly in front of the original TV cabinet with a swivel arm mount that was bolted to the right hand side of the box as originally installed in the Endeavor. I used the heaviest duty swing arm mount that Walmart carried and drilled 3 holes to mount the swing arm to the side panel of the TV box with short 3/8" carriage bolts. That way, when we were parked, the Vizio could be swung out from in front of the original TV location towards the center of the coach for better viewing from the roadside couch. In the swung out and over to the right position, the TV was about 18" to the right of where the original TV was located.

When we prepared for travel, the TV was swung back against the front of the TV cabinet which had foam 3/4" wide by 1/2" thick self stick insulating tape up and down each side just inside the front edge of the original cabinet face that prevented the back of the TV from contact with the wood cabinet box. I had cut the original TV face trim and reinstalled the bottom and top parts so they provided a small shelf that the Vizio's case sat on when travelling. The Vizio was secured from bouncing or swinging out over the driver's head by a 1" wide nylon strap with an adjustable buckle that was screwed securely to the inside top and bottom of the cabinet.

Which swivel arm mount did you purchase from Wal Mart? Looks like most of them cost as much as the TV. I noticed that they have several to choose from.

[NavyDad89]

Which swivel arm mount did you purchase from Wal Mart? Looks like most of them costs as much as the tv, I noticed that they have several to choose from

I have looked today and can not find a similar one listed on the Walmart site. The one we used had a swivel base bolted to the cabinet, double arms that were about 9" long each with heavy duty hinge point at the mounting plate - between the arms and another at the head for TV mounting. As I recall, it had a wt capacity of around 75 lbs and the power and antenna cables were strung through the arms.

What we installed is similar to one that I found with a google search:

Premier Mount (ours did not have the articulating head)

[hermanmullins]

I saw a TV bracket at Sam's. It was $49.xx. However as Brett said I would be careful mounting a TV on a movable bracket without having it well secured. I can understand wanting to be able to move the TV for servicing and ease of mounting but again, be sure to be able to secure it from moving when in transit.