Front TV

Dsrtrider · 06-15-2013, 09:37 AM

I'm replacing the boat anchor front tv on my 97 Sunrise. Looks like I will have to Sawzall part of the old cage away. To mount plywood and brkts for new flatscreen. What thickness plywood did people use to mount t6he TV to? Did anyone get a TV with built in DVD? Old Tv was a 19in. I think I can get a 28 in to fit it will overlap the storage door mldg and thats fine. Will be glad to get rid of the headbanger hanging down. Any comments or ideas would be helpful.

BFlinn181 · 06-15-2013, 09:49 AM

I used 5/8" plywood. You are only hanging 30 lbs. or less, no need to make it armor plate. I wouldn't install a TV with built in DVD, often the DVD fails long before the TV. Much easier to use a $30 DVD in a cabinet and replace if it goes bad.

clyon51 · 06-15-2013, 10:01 AM

My old TV was overhead and just sat in the enclosure. I built some framing out of 2x4 and used 3/4 plywood to fill the hole flush with the front. I made sure a 2x4 was directly behind the place I was going to put the mount and used 3 in screws for the mount. I covered the plywood with black felt. Used a flush mount (it splits in half), attached half to the plywood and the other to the TV and hung it in place.

Demon13 · 06-15-2013, 11:00 AM

Keep in mind that what goes up MAY COME DOWN which will be annoying while driving .

Dsrtrider · 06-15-2013, 11:18 AM

Plans are to use 3/4 or 1 in. plywood and prob. screw the Tv directly to it then make a thinner plywood lower closure panel for the bottom of the hole and cover it with matching vinyl to the visors and lower header panel.

Retired and Happy · 06-16-2013, 08:45 PM

I also had to cut some metal framing. I then attached 5/8 plywood backing to the remaining framing with angle brackets. Now i'm considering hanging a piece of plywood off the bottom of the vertical piece with hinges and some kind of fastener at the back edge. I would then hang the rear view monitor from this second piece. This would still give me access to the wiring behind the set. I also plan to push some insulation all across in the front cap cavity to keep out some of the heat. Now, if I could only decide what kind of fasteners to use on the bottom plywood. And I don't plan to cover that in vinyl, maybe just stain and polyurethane it.

rsimstn · 06-17-2013, 02:48 PM

Post a few pictures when you finish. I will be doing the same thing next month. I have a switch that will channel the tv sound output to my radio 4 speakers so I need a tv with a headphone jack.

lfdeluca2 · 06-22-2013, 04:57 PM

We just completed replacing the old 27" analog monster mounted in the front of our 2004 Itasca Sunova with a 32" Samsung LED HD TV. We took advantage of the wood original wood frame that surrounded the old TV. After cutting a 5/8" sheet of finished plywood to just fill the center cut out area of the frame, and cutting out areas for the various connectors we fabricated wooded "L" bracket rails. The plywood is glued and screwed to those brackets which are also glued and screwed to the backside of the original frame. The TV was centered and mounted directly on the finished plywood which we stained to match the existing cabinets. Next the entire assembly was lifted into position and the frame screwed back in as it was originally. I did use longer and larger screws than the originals and added several more just for safety. Came out really well and looks as if it was there all along.

tom1947 · 06-26-2013, 08:34 PM

We just replaced our monster tv with a 24" led flat screen. I built a 6" deep box sized to the opening (3/4" plywood). I mounted with an articulating arm mounted so it would articulate down instead of sideways. This puts the tv closer to eye level when watching and feels much better on my neck. When traveling, it folds up and into the box and braced with a strip of 1/4" plywood.

pace89 · 07-25-2013, 07:11 PM

If interested my solution can be viewed along with other projects at: Picasa Web Albums - Maurice Therrien

Retired and Happy · 07-26-2013, 06:11 PM

After removing the old anchor, I cut out a lot of plastic housing and metal from the frame to open the area for the 29" LCD flatscreen. I used a piece of 1/2 inch cabinet grade plywood as a vertical backing, which I bracketed to some of the remaining metal frame. I used a tilting 2 part bracketto mount the TV to the vertical board.

To cover the bottom I used a piece of white laminated shelving. I used 3/4" because I also had to hang the monitor to it. In retrospect, I think a thinner piece would have worked, but I guess it stays because we committed to a new-to-us MH today. As a further precaution I also stuffed an 8' piece of 6" thick foam across the front cap space to insulate the new TV as well as the two side cabinets.

I had a slight gap across the top of the TV which I closed with a piece of picture frame I found in the garage that matched the surrounding wood.

Dunner · 07-26-2013, 08:30 PM

I know it's a little late, but this is how I mounted my 32" Samsung LED TV to the existing surround. I filled the top gap with a cloth covered speaker panel.