Just saw this sticky, spent a couple hours going through some of the mods and still have a ways to go. We picked up a 2002 Winnebago Adventurer last year, it was in excellent shape but there were a few things I wanted to update, figure this would be a good place to share.
The first thing I knew after day 1 was the giant, heavy old TV needed to go. It was too heavy and too obstructive of the view:
Step 1: Remove TV, thing weighed a ton. Just a few screws held the front plastic frame on and a bracket held the TV in place in the metal frame.
Step 2: Remove metal bracket and back half of plastic cover. Still no drilling or cutting yet. Just had to remove the 12v dome light and speaker wires. But now I was left with a nice big opening and could begin putting things back together.
Step 3:Installed wood framing. Used some 2x6 and made framing to mount the TV bracket to as well as framing that went behind the TV. This would later be used to hold a trim piece and remount the light and speaker. I did drill the metal frame on either side of the opening to run small lag bolts into the ends of the 2x6. I also notched the bottom 2x6 to help it carry the weight so all weight wasn't on the lag bolts.
Step 4: I mounted the TV bracket. Used
this bracket from Amazon which is nice because it can be disengaged and pulled out a bit (though we never seem to use that but it helps to get behind the TV to hookup/plug in wires.
Step 5: Since the old, large TV was very deep and I was not re-mounting the large plastic cover that covered the back of the TV I had to fill a large gap. I used some 1/4" composite board painted to try to match the dash material. Remounted the light and speaker and got a nice somewhat finished look.
Finished product resulted in a huge difference in the view out the front. Also, the old heavy TV weighed a ton and definitely had some squeaks and rattles going down the road, the new TV is so much lighter and completely silent.
Next it was onto the rear bedroom TV. This TV sat in a large opening next to a cabinet. This one was much easier to replace.
After taking out the old TV I used a different mount, this time it was
this one from Walmart. After removing the old TV I also removed the handle from the cabinet in the space to the right of the TV. I mounted the base plate to the bracket on the divider between the TV space and the small cabinet space (after I had added a piece of 1/2" plywood to beef up the spot where the bracket mounted). So the bracket is mounted on the "wall" immediately to the right behind the TV. Then, to keep the TV held in place, I used 2 short but kind of heavy bungee cords connected to the bracket where it mounts to the TV and the other ends are connected to the hole in the back of the cabinet that the power/cable comes through. These cords hold the TV tight in the pocket but allow you to pull the TV out enough to open the cabinet door to the right or to let you get behind the TV in the now mostly open cabinet space for misc storage. In a year of trips the TV has not moved or come out at all unless we pull it out intentionally. I have it angled slightly in the space so that it more faces the center of the bed, which is why the gap at the top looks a little uneven.
Other modsI've done:
Stick on tile in the kitchen area.
Fixed up the peeling decal and changed a couple over to red (from grey) for some color.
I have also added Boogey Lights under the canopy
And a non-visible upgrade/mod was self installed sumo springs front and rear as well.
On the list next (especially after reading this thread) will be residential faucets and the valve for the quick drain of my HW heater instead of removing the vinyl plug every time.