TV Mount Questions

I just don't trust the typical manufacturer's idea of a tv mount, ive seen plenty of crappy workmanship in other areas of various trailers over the years, why would they do a tv mount any better?

find two studs, cut and fit a piece of decent plywood that fastens to the two studs and use that.

remember that what looks good and works in the showroom wont look so good after a 100 miles of highway travel

the panelling in rv's comes off remarkably easily, done it lots and it goes back on with a few more staples. this makes it easy to check and add more/better material that will be hidden. That's exactly what I will be doing in the next couple of days to our new tt. Even the "studs" in the walls are suspect imho, some manufacturers don't bother nailing/stapling the studs to the top and bottom plates, the're held together with the panelling staples!!
I've renovated/repaired several trailers, generally the construction methods are appalling and shinier glitzier models are no different

I have a 32" screen, articulating mount, bolted onto a piece of 5/8" plywood. The Plywood extends across three studs and is also glued to the wall. The articulating mount bolts are sent through the plywood from the wall side. I counter-bored the bolt holes so that a washer could be used and the bolt head is inside the counter-bore.
I don't do any heroic measures to protect the screen when in transport, I just swing and compress it so the screen is close to the wall and parallel. The screen weighs 8 lbs.

My walls between the living room and bedroom and between the dinette and bunkhouse are about 1 inch thick. I used an electric stud finder and determined there are one by three and one by two studs between the paneling. There also appears to be a plywood backer where the existing television shelves are mounted.

I purchased two identical articulating mounts to mount two identical televisions that I bought to mount on both walls.

I used 2 quarter inch bolts through the mounts on the dinette side of the wall and lock nuts with washers under the nuts on the bunkhouse side of the wall to secure the amount to the wall at the edge of the wall at the aisle. This allows me to swing the TV all the way around to be viewed from the bunkhouse and bathroom area.

Originally there was a fold down television shelf mounted to the wall. I moved it down about two and a half inches to allow me to be able to open the cabinet door next to the shelf while there is a DVD player and satellite receiver sitting on the shelf. Swung against the wall the TV is right over the original Shelf.

I use the same size nuts bolts and washers to mount the bedroom articulating mount through a stud with the nuts and washers on the living room side of the wall.

Originally there was a fold-down television shelf like the one on the other wall that was mounted on the wall. It was located almost up against the outside wall. I removed the shelf and hardware and added it to the kitchen counter next to the sink to extend the counter top. It also doubles as a tray for the jackknife sofa when eating. The formica top is the exact same formica as the counter top. I also added a shelf about 6 inches from the ceiling next to the bedroom doorway on the bedroom side for a DVD player for the bedroom television.

Both TVs were originally 21 inch. After the screen went bad on the TV in the bedroom I replaced it with a 29 inch that weighs less than the original 21 inch using the same mount without relocating it.

When traveling I can remove the TVs and place them on the bed face down and pack pillows and other items around them if needed to keep them from moving around, but they stay in place by themselves just fine.

I just bought a Grand Design and it has a steel plate in the wall for the tv mount. I used a magnet to find the edges and marked with tape. The sticker on the wall was not accurate.

Awesome. Thanks for the replies all. I do like the thought of the bar style mount (not to mention cheaper). My only concern about taking the TV off for traveling was where to put it (I'd hate for it to slide off the bed). I'm sure I can get creative though and find a storage solution. I guess everything will make sense once I actually get in the camper and start putting things together. I just picked it up on Tuesday (its a 2019). Hoping to get some yard work done, as well as getting things packed back up this weekend.

I tried the smaller arm base and found it to be a little weak. I now use the wider non swing arm tilting plate. I think the wider plate distributes better. You will need it to tilt downward when you are sitting on a sofa to view the tv.

In my previous camper, I mounted the bar style mount on the wall. I could not find any "studs" to mount, so I used a large glob of Liquid Nails behind this board, and then used my air gun and ran several small needle size nails to hold it in place while the glue dried. Then, it was just a matter of attaching the bar to the board with some good wood screws.

I chose this mount so it the television could easily be removed and laid on the bed during transport.

When we got our current trailer, I took the bar off and of course the television went into the new camper. Because there was a label in the bed room, I simply tapped on the wall to make sure there was a good backing behind it. Actually, knowing where I thought the bar should be mounted, I then took a hammer and a finishing nail and partly nailed the finishing nail into the wall to be sure there was indeed backing behind the wall paneling. When I found the edges of the backer board, I felt comfortable to mount the bar with just plain old wood screws.

And again, when we are in transport, we simply lift the television off and lay it on the bed. It takes about 30 seconds to plug it back in and attach the antenna wire.

First trailer with the bar:



Back of television with the hooks that go over the bar. We never clamped it down. It always just hung, so it would remove easy.





When we got the current camper, I removed the bar and the television and put it in the bedroom. Again, we remove it when in transit:



We have a television in the living room and after about a year it started behaving badly. We couldn't keep a signal (antenna) and it drove us nuts. We eventually got a new television to replace it. The old television went into our bedroom in our house and it's worked perfectly fine ever since.

I finally figured out why we had so much trouble with it after about a year in the camper. All the bouncing (being at the end of the trailer), caused the coax wire attached to the television, to literally break the connection where the coax wire connects to the television. It wasn't the plastic holding it in place, it was the bouncing and slight movement of the plastic that broke something in the connection. If I wiggled it, the signal could come in and then would go out again.

In the bed room, it's mounted to the wall (same bar) but it doesn't flake-in-and-out with the signal any more, because the wire never moves. It's worked great in the bedroom of the house since it doesn't bounce the connection around any more.

Meanwhile, we got another television for the living room, and I ended up putting another bar (quick disconnect) on the lift for the television with the hooks permanently attached to the television. When we travel, we remove this one too and lay it on the bed. Lower the cabinet and it's worked perfectly fine ever since. (4 years now).

Because we never travel with the televisions actually attached to the wall, we never have to worry about the weight on the wall either. The wall will hold the weight, it's the bouncing that will destroy everything.

Sounds good - I'll have to make a trip to camping world I think. While it might be cheaper to get the stuff online, I have a feeling a walk through the store might be beneficial to put some ideas together.

I never thought about using a spacer - I would have just put a 12x12 up with some substance and screwed into that. But after reading your response - I almost wonder if I'm better off getting the longer "bar style" mounting brackets instead of the ones that are 2 inches wide and 6 inches tall (single arm style).

Find the sticker, check for backer, and mount.

I have found the sticker to be off the mark on a few models.
The walls are thin enough to tap on them to get a good idea of where the wood filler is located.
I got lucky and found some posts on the owners forums where owners addressed this more specifically.

What some have done is to use a piece of plywood (maybe approx 12x12)
and mount that to the wall near the OEM sticker with a lot of screws with spacers. This holds the plywood away from the wall so you get a nut and bolt tightened to hold the tv mount to it.
The weight of the tv won't rip the bolts out of the 12x12 plywood and all those screws offer a lot of holding power opposed to 3 or 4 .
when traveling...use a strap to secure it. if you use one strap, run it horizontal. Two might be better on a 42" , then I would run them vertically at the 25% and 75% mark.
Am I making any sense ? :h :)