How to install a large-screen TV in an RV
The small TVs that came with older motorhomes fit nicely in the little compartment above the windshield, but if you want a big TV, where do you put it and how to you install it?
As you can see in this first picture, here's the way most TVs are mounted in older motorhomes.
But here's what you would like to have. This is a 40-inch HDTV that replaced the older, original TV.
The question is, "How do you make it happen?" It's simple. You start with a TV wall mounting bracket assembly (available from Amazon for about $15 to $25) like the one shown below:
Then you take out the old TV, add a couple of planks as shown, and then mount the flat part of the bracket assembly to the planks.
The secret to making the whole system work is that you have to move the cabinet door on each side of the TV over a little bit. You can see that I moved the doors over a little more than two inches. Actually, I moved them over the width of the hinge. Then I used one of the original holes to reinstall the hinges. The red arrow points to the hole where the hinge used to be mounted.
You can also see that now the cabinet door doesn't completely cover the opening. Store items in thesse cabinets that won't fall out easily. I've never had anything fall out in the 2+ years since I installed the big TV.
When the cabinet doors are moved over they cover about an inch of the speakers on each side. I haven't noticed any diference in the sound from my stereo.
The next thing to do is to attach the two parts of the mounting bracket assembly to the back of the TV as shown below. Note that the brackets on the back of the TV just clip onto the part of the mounting bracket that was attached to the planks previously.
As you can see in this picture, I have temporarily slid the TV to the left side so that I can have access to the right cabinet door. The TV slides easily with one hand, but still there is enough friction so that it doesn't slide when driving down the road. (And don't worry, the bracket assembly is designed so that the TV can't slide all the way off in either direction.) I used to stuff a pillow behind the TV to make sure it wouldn't slide when I was driving, but then I found out that it wasn't necessary.
As you can see, the installation is fairly easy and it works great.
Additional notes:
1. The TV I installed is a 40" TV. You can install a larger TV, but that will mean you would have to move the cabinet doors over a little more. It's a compromise as to how big of a TV you want and how much you want to move the cabinet doors over. The more you move them over, the more you cover the speakers, and the less the doors cover the opening.
2. You actually pick up some storage space by mounting the TV this way because the space where the original TV was is now available to use as storage, but you will want to store things here that you don't want to get to very often -- equipment manuals, extra pillows, etc.
3. The TV is easy to take down. One person can do it, but it's a lot easier with two people. Just reach back and unplug the power cord and the antenna. (and the audio input if you have connected it to your surround sound speaker system). Then reach back and release the clips on the mounting bracket and lift up on the TV about an inch and down it comes.