Installing 32" LCD and new Trav'ler in 07 Journey

[Pusherman]

As an RV shop owner, we have installed maybe a dozen LCD TV's in motorhomes in the last year or so. I have been religiously watching this forum for any and all ideas on how to install flat screen TV's in motorhomes, removing those 55 lb bricks over the dash board. I'm always looking for better ways to do the installs, and have received many good ideas from this forum.

As many of you know, mounting a 32" LCD TV up front is a challenge, depending on the existing TV setup, how much rework you are willing to do in the existing cabinetry, etc. I have researched LCD TV sizes to find the narrowest one which will fit in my Journey overhead setup.

I am finally 'biting the bullet' on my own coach with a new 32" LCD TV install along with a new Winegard Trav'ler SK-3005 satellite setup.

I will try to document the install of both units over the next several days for eveyone's informational benefit.

Satellite: I have the Winegard AS-2003 automatic satellite single LNB dish on my coach from the factory. As many of you have already experienced, the dish does not seem to find the satellite these days. There are multiple issues with this satellite dish, and Winegard has discontinued support for this model.

I chose to buy a Winegard Trav'ler SK-3005 (DirecTV HD capable) to replace the AS-2003.

TV: I purchased a Samsung LN-32C540 720p LCD TV, as it is the narrowest flat screen TV I can find, having a width of 30.8". One nice feature of the Samsung TV's is all the controls are front panel mounted. Many of the other manufacturers have the controls either top or side mounted, which may become a problem accessing these controls when mounting the TV in the upper cabinet.

In my Journey, I have 31.5" width on the existing TV cabinet. It will be mounted just outside the current wood trim, only requiring minor modification of the existing cabinetry, extending about 1" from the current cabinetry. It will require a small filler strip at the top or bottom of the existing space to fill in the existing TV space.

The satellite installation starts tomorrow. I will take pictures of the complete process and post here for everyone's benefit.

TV install to occur later in the week.

More posts to come.

[DeanLinAZ]

Many thanks, Pusherman. I have a 2004 Journey and want to do the same exchange. I, too, have settled on the Winegard 3005 satellite system, but am still uncertain about the TV. The 32" seems to be the best fit for our coaches but picking the brand name is where I have hesitated. I will watch your progress carefully. Good luck and thanks for sharing.

[tderonne]

I have looked for a narrow 32" LCD too. Hadn't looked at this Samsung. $348 at Sams Club, not a bad price. And front controls. Gotta go look closer at our Adventurer...

[adlerx]

Great! Can't wait as I am ready to do this first thing on my new to me LaPalma

[stearn]

I too would like to replace with LCD. Looking forward to seeing your updates.

[Midniteoyl]

[SCVJeff]

You're gonna wonder why you waited sooooo long..

[Piledrive]

We have a 2000 Adventurer and I pulled out the old TV (which had been replaced with one that has a built in Tape and DVD slots) and the 20 or so pound steel mounting rack. My guess is somewhere near 50lbs total.

We purchased a Westinghouse 32" LED unit that weighs a slight 14 pounds, and uses less power than a 60 watt light blub.

After buying a standard wall mount and then installing it, I didn't like the set-up because it would have to have additional support while on the road. This is my solution: Using 2 pieces of channel with stand-offs, I set up 4 turn buckles and eye bolts. There is no other supports, no wood working (except what is required to cover the opening on the bottom.


Will try again to upload photos, never tried this before, so not sure how it is done.

[Paul R. Haller]

2 years ago I replaced my bedroom tv in my 5er with a 36 inch Samsung LCD flat screen with a 1080p upscaling DVD player. That TV I just cut another pice of plywood !/2 inch thick below the existing shelf and screwed the TV down through its base to the cabinet. It works but it looks kind of crude. This Christmas I treated myself to a 46' Samsung LED for the living room. Wow, what a nice tv and only 3/4 of an inch deep. Mounting was more difficult. I ended up cutting 2 3/4 inch pieces of plywood to fit the bottom of the existing cabinet. I glued and screwed them down for a sturdy bottom. Then, I constructed a 2x4 frame and covered the front with ply and glued and screwed it all together. Then, I bought a wall mount unit from Amazon and finally mounted the screen. I bought some dark cherry cabint grade 1/8 plywood and covered what was visible behind the TV with that so it look nice. I do not believe I saved any weight at all but having a 1080 picture with a bluray disk was worth it. At the same time I wired up true surround sound speakers ran all the wires in loom and pulled them hidden in cabinets and behind walls, mounted the speakers on the ceiling and a home theater surround sound processor with a powered sub. I put the center speaker inside the 2x4 frame with speaker fabrick covering the hole behind the TV. I now can blow the windows out of the trailer if I'm not careful and another unexpected benifit is the quality of my CD when played. I do like sitting in my luxuery 5er with all the convienences of home!
-Paul R. Haller-

[pameridan04]

Hi Guys:

I replaced both TV's front and back bedroom. I used a 32 in Sylvania Flat screen HD 720 DPI in the front. I used angle iron and 3/4 in oak plywood as a mounting back. Bought a TV bracket mount for a 32in TV and it worked out fine. With the holes all ready in the angle iron you can move the plywood up and down to suit your fit. It is a very strong setup. Best part, I can remove my TV in 20 seconds and pop it back on. 5,000 miles later solid as a rock.

If you buy a TV that is just a hair wider than your opening, you won't have to cut anything. I have about a half inch space on the bottom that I just stuff a black piece of cloth in and you can't even see it. The TV will mount almost flush up against the oak molding, but your measurements have to be precise. Make sure you controls and speakers are on the front, and the TV has a variable audio output if you want your surround sound to work.

I used existing cabinet in bedroom, and used oak molding to fill in space at bottom. Used the angle iron and plywood method here also. The bedroom TV was more work than the front!!

Good Luck...

[Pusherman]

Got the satellite dish installed today and well under way for the TV install. Here are some pics of the satellite install. I'm removing a Winegard AS-2003 automatic satellite dish which no longer finds the satellites and is no longer supported by Winegard. Am replacing it with a Winegard Trav'ler SK-3005 DirecTV HD satellite.

First photo is removing old satellite dish. Removed fasteners, and scraped off all old caulk around surface. Unit was also held down with silicone caulk, which we had to pry up and clean off. Cleaned total roof for new install.

Second photo is tracing outline of new dish, fasteners installed, with wiring run. Note new entrance point for 2 coax and control cable wires (pics out of order here).

Third photo is laying down bed of silicone caulk for new dish before the new sat was installed (sorry, pics out of order here). Note patch in photo which was where old control and coax wires entered coach for old dish. Covered patch with a rubber material, caulked all edges with silicone. Footprint of new dish covered the entire old dish holes and marks. All were caulked with silicone before covering with new dish.

Fourth photo is new dish with self leveling caulk around all the edges, seams, and old holes from old dish install.

Ran wires inside and installed controller. 2 coax wires to front for sat receivers. 1 control wire. You can run a total of 4 coax wires, but I chose to run only 2.

TV install is well underway. Will post photos of the TV install tomorrow.

[SCVJeff]

Don: I also layed down a landing pad for the antenna to spread the weight and keep skid marks off the fiberglass. There's a significant down-force when that antenna is nested, so it's now spread around. Winegard also sells one, but this is larger and stainless rather than a painted plate.

[rebel4963]

Hi My husband installed one this weekend. We only had a small spot for our front TV. Well being older and sight is a problem. We installed a 32". Bob put a piece of oak in the old TV box that went from side to side. We bought a thin TV. Then we bought a mount that will slide from side to side. It's about an inch over the cupboards on either side. We can easily slide it over to get it into the cuboards. He has it very close to flush mounted and looks nice. Plus I can watch it from the kitchen without a problem. the 19" would have been to hard to see. Just love getting older! He also bought a strap from walmart to put over it for travel.

[Barbara B]

When selecting the new TV try to find one with controlable audio output jacks. Our '05 Journey's PO did not, so the volume is not controlable through the stock surround sound system causing us to rely on the TV speakers.