Have any of you installed a new LCD TV in your RV?
How did or would you do it and what works the best?
Most of the LCD TVs I would like to view in my RV are too large to fit in the location built for the TV. I have looked at the mounting fixtures and determined they will not hold a TV in place going down the road. One big bump and the high $$$ TV is gone down the tube.

 

I haven't mounted one, but I have been looking with an interest in doing the same.

Most LCD's use a VESA compliant mounting pattern that will fit a wall mount. But I think you want to have some kind of straps, with velcro or whatever, to secure the unit while you are traveling. Especially if it is a tilt/pan type mount. Maybe not if you have a solid wall mount. The VESA hole pattern itself seems pretty solid to me.

If I get one, I won't mount it in the usual TV bay. That would only handle about a 12" TV. But there is a good wall area next to it that should handle a 17" or so. All depends on your RV layout of course.

For ideas, go to your RV dealer and look at new units. Just about all of them come with LCD TV's these days. Just check out how they handle it from the factory.

 

I used a swing arm VESA mount in the bedroom of my Champagne Edition HitchHiker. If you go this route, make sure that the wall of the cabinet you mount it on will withstand the weight. I put a sheet of 3.4 inch plywood up against the inside wall of the cabinet and then mounted the swing arm to that. The television is a 26 inch Vizio that replaced an older tube type 19" Magnavox.



In the living room, I used a couple of large L brackets from Lowe's. I mounted them on the sliding tray that held the big 27" tube type Magnavox. I replaced it with a 32" Vizio and still get the sliding mount so the television can pull out and swivel. I put a shelf in the back of the television to store CD's and DVD's.

 

Very nice work Greg.

 

I have looked at the newer RVs to see how they do it and the layouts are a lot diiierent. Designed for the LCDs. Some of what I see would is not to my standards. They are mounted to the wall on swing arms with no means to hold them in place.
Greg; those installations are great. My living room has a large cabinet that a 32" will fit into. I have a slide that move within 3'' of the cabinet face. The use of the swivel is a good idea. The rear space can be accessed for storage. The swing arm in the bedroom sounds good to me. How do you hold the units in place during travel? Do you have a way to take the wieght off the arm during travel? Thanks for the pics.

 

Living Room: The shelf that the television sits on came from the factory with a locking latch built into it. There's a **** under the television that pulls out about 1/4 inch to release the shelf to allow it to slide out and swivel as shown in the pictures. When the shelf is in, the television is flush against the cabinet panelling. The television sits outside the original opening, so it is held tight against the pannelling with an overlap of about 1 inch on each side and the top. It doesn't move since the L brackets are a solid mount.

Bedroom: Since I took that picture, I have been to the Nuwa factory where I had them build me a frame that fits snugly against the television on both sides, top and bottom. The swing arm is set up so that the television will go vertical and slide into that frame. I keep the adjusting screws on the swing arm tight enough so that it won't move without some effort. So when I travel, the television gets pushed back into the frame and is solid as a rock. When parked, I can pull the top out and tilt it downwards for the best viewing angle from the head of the bed.

Before I got the frame, I was using a bungi cord across the front of the television into the cabinet door handles on each side of the television, but I don't bother with that anymore.

For what it's worth, Nuwa is now mounting their LCD televisions in a cabinet door. I looked at that setup when we were at the factory and didn't like it much. What they've done is build a "rack" on the inside of the cabinet door, then cut out the face of the door. The television slides into the rack from the top. Then they mount the door with the television installed to the cabinet facing with a piano hinge. While it eliminates the lost room taken up by the swingarm, I just didn't really like the setup because I don't think the viewing angle wasn't adjustable.

 

What I saw with the factory installs (in most cases) was that the cabinets were built to fit the LCD TVs they sell with the rig.
I have two 32" LCDs, a two year old Sharp at 32 lbs w/stand and brand new Vizio at 20 lbs with out stand. I plan to put the Vizio on a two section swing arm (the smaller of the Costco types) and mount it to the reinforced left side cabinet wall. It will sit on the front of the cabinet and over hang on the left end about 10 to 12 in. It should swing both right and left when pulled away from the cabinet. It will also tilt for viewing from bed. My wife will be able to angle the TV to be seen from the makeup area in the AM. This should speed the AM get aways when on the road. The support electronics will set on a high self out side the cabinet for control from bed. I picked up two of those cable feed thrus for PC desks to be used on the the double cabinet walls. I have not worked out how to support the weight and hold in place problem for travel. Been thinking about a ramp with a lip of some kind attached to the cabinet. If I cann't get it done here in Seattle I'll wait till we get to our resort in AZ. We have a 3400 sq ft wood shop with all kinds of helpers(?) and equipment.
I have an sliding-swivel base some where I'll have to find it to see if it can be used in the living room. Good info you passed on to me Greg.