I was considering a TV upgrade for some time and there were some excellent Black Friday deals so I bit the bullet. If anyone is interested in a TV upgrade to a 50inch UHD 4K TV for the swing down ceiling arrangement, this post may save you a lot of time and provide a good roadmap for what is involved. I had a 40 inch HD TV in the compartment before and going to 50 inch represents a 56% increase in screen size. Between the Ultra HD capability and screen size change the results are stunning. These sets upconvert when 4K content is not available and the results will improve a good image but will not aid a poorly recorded image very much. Over the air and dish HD channels with newer content and especially live sports are remarkable.
The TV...I looked at Sony in a 49inch, Vizio in a 50 inch, LG in a 49 inch, but the best physical fit and price performance was a Samsung UN50JS7000. The contours of the case and the narrow bezel made the set fit like a glove in the swing down carriage. In particular the rounded back near the edge of the set and the thin perimeter, for about and inch in from the edge, helped with the fit. It weighs just 29lbs.
The Modifications...The TV set is just about the size of the swing down carriage, width wise, leaving about 1/2 inch per side clearance. The top of the set minimally overlaps the top square tube and that will require some metal trimming to notch the welded square tube bracing. The set will be mounted on a small tilt to clear the square tube but the advantage is that the tilt is an excellent match for the couch viewing position. The VESA mount dimensions and the set size will require marking and drilling new holes in the carriage metal frame. I started with some blue tape to mark the hole locations after placing a 1/4 inch strip of plywood over the two angle brackets at the bottom of the carriage. All the bolt hole measurements were done from the plywood surface up. Drill the bolt holes at a slight upward angle. I taped and marked the metal frame that was to be trimmed. I used a Bosch 12V battery operated hand held saw and a fine tooth metal blade to do the cutting and finished with a Dremel with a cut off wheel. Photos attached.
The Mount.... You will need 4-M8 bolts. You will place the TV on the 1/4 inch plywood spacer on the angle steel bracing for bolting. I bought various lengths and ended up mounting the set several times which was a pain so this will save you some time. The final bolts that I used had 3 inches of thread on the top set and 2 1/4 on the bottom set. I used two aircraft nuts on each bolt, one with a large washer tight to the carriage frame and one tight to the set using a fender washer. So these are basically bolts to hold the set plus set the standoff depths from the carriage. If I was to do it over I would use an aircraft nut against the TV set but a standard nut and lock washer against the carriage frame for ease of tightening with my fingers and just locking them with a wrench. Be careful not to overtighten the bolts on the back of the set. Leave the carriage frame locking nuts somewhat loose until all the bolts are started in the back of the TV. When the nuts are tightened and locked at the TV end with the aircraft nuts, then tighten the nuts at the carriage end. Because the bolts are at a slight angle, do not overtighten the carriage end of things, forcing the bolts to try and straighten to the carriage frame. When done slide out the plywood spacer. Various photos attached.
This is probably one of the most rewarding upgrades for the money that I have done. Although the dimensions are tight and you need to measure carefully, the work was not overly difficult once I had sorted the project all out. The only work needed within the ceiling box area clearance wise was to tie wrap up some wires near the silver control box. I did pucker a bit the first time I ran the set up into the ceiling but all is well from a clearance point of view.
If you do not have satellite HD TV in your coach or you do not have HDMI cable run to the swing up TV, in a prior post I detailed how to get there from here using a pair of Cat4 Ethernet cables and some amplified Baluns. Hope this helps make such a great TV a reality for someone else.
Later Ed
