finding a outside beam on a trailer????

found the beam right alongside my dinette window. drilled a starter hole and hit wood and drove 2 2in screws into it which are holding the TV mount. feels solid and TV fits on it good.
caulked the entire area as well as put caulking into the screw holes before screwing the screws. feels solid. will post a picture tomorrow since it got dark.

thanks for the help

OK I'll take a stab at it. I had to do something like that on my travel trailer. The aluminum siding was bowing out as I was going down the road. I wanted to put some screws into the studs to hold the siding on.

I removed the inside window trim from a window near where I needed to find the studs. After removing the window trim I could see the studs. I found the center of the studs and made a line up to the window. I put a mark on the inside of the window for the studs I could see. I was able to use a tape measure and slip it under the paneling to measure to the next stud that I could not see.

From the outside I dropped a line from the mark on the window down to the bottom of the trailer. If things are square the line will be in the middle of the stud. I was able to hit five of five studs the first try! It can be done.

If there is no window where you want to mount things try to use a stud finder on the inside paneling and measure to some reference point that you can get to from inside and outside. You may be able to remove a cover like the power cord cover or a water inlet cover and see a stud. It takes some careful measuring but possible. Good luck!

Is this post going to be like your others.........no response back?

Typical stick built RV will have wall studs of 1x2s, actual real dimensions would be closer to 3/4 (W) x 1 1/2 (Deep)..

The odds of finding the exact center of a 3/4" wide stud is not going to be in your favor.. The studs often are random intervals so the odds of you finding studs within the reach of your mount (unless it is a monster sized screen) are going to be rather dismal..

Not sure as to why anyone would want to purposely drill more holes in the OUTSIDE side of a RV, they tend to leak pretty darn good as is from the factory let alone adding additional "helpers" to speed the rot..

Personally I would opt for some sort of tripod stand that could be setup and taken down quickly and will not add un needed leaks to your RV. Think on the lines of like a DJ speaker or light bar tripod..

Seems like on some mornings the studs `show thru' the sidewalls condensation.

You might try a stud finder. Home Depot or Lowes around $10 should do the job.