TV Shelf suggestions

[ellenwall]

Hello fellow airstreamers

My husband, Roy, and I have a 2007 Safari 25' FB SE. We haven't used it much yet, but will retire in March and plan to be snowbirds several months each year as long as we can ... to get out of this cold Wisconsin weather.

In some of the Airstreams we looked at when we were shopping, I saw fold-up TV shelves. It makes sense to us to install a shelf instead of a metal bracket so that if/when we need to replace the TV set, we can put anything on the shelf. We would install one on the dining end and one in the bedroom (because the bed is sideways in the 25' FB, we couldn't see a TV set on a swing-arm in the dining area).

If this logic makes sense, does anyone know where we can find fold-up shelves?

Thanks for any help you can give!

You could probably order them right from Airstream or through a dealer. But with analog tv on it's way out ,why not just buy a flat screen HDTV and mount it on a wall bracket. Probably would take up much less room. According to the 2/07 issue of Scientific American all analog brodcast are shutting down on Feb7,2009. Quote: 21 million households using a conventional set with rabbit ears or a rusty roof antenna-typically people who are poor, elderly or living in rural America-will turn on their TVs and see.... nothing.

[ellenwall]

Hi Craftsman
We did buy an HDTV, and it came with a bracket. I'm worried that when the TV set needs to be replaced, new ones won't include the same size bracket - then we have holes in the wall for something that we can no longer use ...

[kneal]

You can always buy a universal bracket that will adapt to most Flat Screen TV's as opposed to using the one that came with that unit you purchased.

Ellenwall. kneal is right the mounting holes on the back of the set's are universal while the wall mount portion of the bracket may have differently spaced mounting holes.

[wlj1943]

Ellenwall,
I suggest you look at the selection of universal brackets (the spendy ones) like the unit I found at our local Sunnyside Costco warehouse club. It is all aluminium, and has a universal adjustable mounting bracket that should fit most any flat panel TV up to about 26" size. However I did not find it on-line and as is typical this style may not be available in the Costco stores; and when I went tback to buy it after shopping around they were out of stock. If they return I will post the information if you wish. The large articulated bracket allows the TV to be seen from the rear bedroom of our 31' Excella (with the doors open of course) as well as from the front living area. ( FYI I have a 15" Sharp Aquos). I also like the Braun brand cast aluminium mounts, but they are not articulated. Be aware the devil is in the details when mounting the brackets; they do require much more than simply sheet metal screws to be ridgid enough to live long and prosper during transport, and to not kill the TV from shock and vibration.
WLJ1943

[thecatsandi]

I removed the shelf that was factory installed in my trailer bed room. I opted for a articulating arm and LCD TV. Much happier. If you want to buy my "old" one make an offer.

[safari25-05]

We have the FB 25', we took out the drop down shelf in the bedroom for the tv. We wanted to put in 15" LCD tv with articulating arm. Did you have a hard time installing it, can you show a pic of it. Any tips you could give us would be much appreciated..Thanks

[thecatsandi]

I moved the rather small TV AS installed in my "living room" to my bedroom.
I took the arm supplied by AS and mounted where the old TV shelf, may be a little higher. The first picture shows a piece of Plexiglass between the arm and the wall. This allowed me to mount the rubber bumpers on the plexi and not the wall. I also put two plastic loops and some double sided velcro to hold it in place while travelling. I used all stainless hardware. I do not want any of it rusting. On the closet side I put acorn nuts on the end of the bolts. This is to keep things from snagging on the bolt ends. I also used large washers to spread the load out.

The last picture is what I put inthe living room. This is a good screen size for viewing from the couch.

[cammur]

If you really want the shelf, I saw one advertised on the Forum classifieds this morning.