New TV AND Memory Foam for RT 210P

You can get some very decent TVs from Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Costco, et al. They all work in RVs. There is nothing magical about a TV made for RVs other than probably you pay more. Combination TV/DVDs will probably save you money overall, space and wiring headaches. I got one on sale at Target a few years ago for less than $200.

The swing arm probably has a universal mounting screw pattern. If it works, it works, but if you are looking for a more versatile swing out arm, those too are very readily available and relatively inexpensive. My only advice there is buy the highest quality and sturdiest you can afford. Cheap ones will have a harder time holding in place while driving unless you bungee cord them in place or some other kind of make do stay.

I agree with drsolo's post advising getting a separate TV and DVD. The original in our Sprinter was a combination. The TV went up but DVD still worked. Decided not to go that route again and purchased a Jensen TV made for RV's and boats.

FLSTFI,we had the same experience. Our RT 210P has the twins like yours and after six years, we redid the tv and added the foam.

Foam: I found a 5 pound 4 inch thick queen sized pad at Sam's Club and bought one for our queen size bed at home and got instant relief to a little hip discomfort. So, bought another one (about $85) and cut it to fit the RT. Here is what I did. I laid out the foam on top of a sheet on the garage floor and laid both existing RT twin pads side by side on the foam. Then, I carefully outlined the pads on the foam using a laundry pen with a fine point. That gave me the layout. As you know, the RT mattress pads are odd shaped at the top to fit the rear door design. Then, I rough cut the foam in half seperating the two pads for finish cutting. You will find that a queen will perfectly make both RT pads with a few inches in all dimensions for trimming.

Then, I took each half and set it on a couple of saw horses with a sheet of plywood on top of the horses, thus making a cutting table. NOW, here is the fun part: I cut the foam with an electric kitchen knife! I researched the net for how to cut the stuff and came up with that answer and watched a couple of youtube.com clips of people cutting the stuff with a kitchen knife. I couldn't believe how smoothly it cut the foam. Put "cutting foam with an electric kitchen knife" on the youtube search engine and you will see for yourself.

The results were perfect. You can then make a slip cover for the pad or make one by simply wrapping it with a sheet and wash the sheet after a trip or two if necessary. You end up with the RT dual density foam and a four inch pad of quality memory foam on top of it and IMO it just sleeps great.

As to the tv: carefully measure the size available for you to work with. Measure from the top of the existing tv over to the side wall and then to the edge of the cabinet on which it is mounted. Also, be mindful of the height you can get by with for the mechanism to work. I found an Hitachi tv (again, at Sam's) that was advertised as ultrathin (also an important consideration)that worked perfectly, although I had no idea Hitachi made tvs. The dimensions available to you in terms of space in the RT dictate your tv purchase and limit it. I did not install the base that came with the tv, but rather just mounted it to the existing RT mount by drilling a few new holes ( in the mount, not the tv!) and rigged up that way. Our RT has the pantry option and that is what the tv is mounted on in our unit. I then bought a small, ultra thin Sony dvd player and put it on the bottom shelf of the little "pantry" which is really just a small cabinet.

Please excuse all the detail, but I did specifically what you want to do and wanted to share with you all my research and results. In summary, the Hitachi turned out to be perfect and a great little tv and the bed pads are super.

After doing my own research I've learned that the higher the foam weight the better it is, but also the harder it is. By better I mean it holds up longer to use. I ordered a 4.3lb one from mattress insider and they have several sizes, pretty much any size you can think of for an RV. The one I got was a 2" topper for my dinette. I also ordered an 8" thick short queen mattress. If you get a topper from say Target or Wally World, you can trim them down. Just remove the cover if it has one and then use a 2 by 4 to mash it down and a utility knife to cut along the 2 by 4. I've also heard that an electric knife works really well to cut memory foam.

Check out www.foambymail.com - they sell all types of foam, including memory foam. Just bought a sheet of 5" foam to cut to fit our 03C190P for the mattress instead of fitting together the seat cushions, since we leave the bed set up all the time anyway. MUCH more comfortable. ST

FLSTFI wrote:

It is also finally time to change out the old TV to one that doesn't need a converter, and has a built in DVD Player.
Thanks
John

I got a Vizio "Razor", TV swivel mount, a Tmvel all region dvd, a "Tailgater" automatic satellite dish for Dish network, and a DISH Network VIP211k HD Receiver to which I added on a 1 TB hard drive. I find "combos" leads to more ways for something to not work. I prefer separating the functions and updating one at a time if needed, or replaced if needed.

Target has a very nice 3" memory foam mattress for a little over $100. depending on size. A queen might cut into two twins. Sam's Club has a 2 1/2" mem foam for a little less. I have the Target full size in my B. Used to have a queen but it took up too much room.