TV Upgrade and Battery Upgrade - Itasca Sunrise

FrankO · 04-15-2008, 06:16 PM

Thought I would go ahead and post some pictures of my latest projects. I had purchased a Sony Bravia 32" LCD last fall but hadn't had time to do the install with our MH in a storage yard. Last week I pulled the old TV out and prepared the cabinet by cutting away some metal framework and building a wood back board attached to the metal box. I purchased a typical LCD TV Mount that then attached to the back board. I did all the measurements last week before cutting and assembly of the backboard. Today I mounted the TV and hooked her up. All fit perfectly and I did not have to do any cutting of the wood frame.
I also did a battery mod a few weeks ago that you gaser guys might be interested in. I had installed 2 Interstate U2200 last summer but felt I had room for more though very tight. I had to go with Exides from Sam's Club as they were just 1?16 inch smaller in depth which allowed me to fit them in. So now I have 4 6 volt batteries for the Coach and one 12V for the chassis. It is really rewarding when a plan works out IMHO.
Pictures follow:

FrankO · 04-15-2008, 06:16 PM

Thought I would go ahead and post some pictures of my latest projects. I had purchased a Sony Bravia 32" LCD last fall but hadn't had time to do the install with our MH in a storage yard. Last week I pulled the old TV out and prepared the cabinet by cutting away some metal framework and building a wood back board attached to the metal box. I purchased a typical LCD TV Mount that then attached to the back board. I did all the measurements last week before cutting and assembly of the backboard. Today I mounted the TV and hooked her up. All fit perfectly and I did not have to do any cutting of the wood frame.
I also did a battery mod a few weeks ago that you gaser guys might be interested in. I had installed 2 Interstate U2200 last summer but felt I had room for more though very tight. I had to go with Exides from Sam's Club as they were just 1?16 inch smaller in depth which allowed me to fit them in. So now I have 4 6 volt batteries for the Coach and one 12V for the chassis. It is really rewarding when a plan works out IMHO.
Pictures follow:

John_Canfield · 04-15-2008, 06:47 PM

Very nice!

Bayway · 04-19-2008, 06:58 AM

Frank

Do you think that install would work on a 2005 Itasca Sunrise 33V. Looks real nice and I think I want to give that a try.

Roscoe

2005 Itasca Sunrise 33V
Old Odyssey Toad

Sammie · 04-19-2008, 09:05 AM

Sure would like to see pictures of the finished installation as I installed a Sony 26 inch in my Journey. I had to reinforce the bracket to LCD set screws because the bracket would become loose while traveling and tightening the set screws would only bend the screw brackets.

ARNE-T · 04-19-2008, 10:29 AM

Nice job. Quite a feat to fit that many batteries in such a tiny space.

arne

Rocket Heart · 04-19-2008, 10:59 AM

What I see looks great - got one of the finished product yet?

becks · 04-19-2008, 03:29 PM

FrankO......Looks like you have a nice TV upgrade just about done. I put two new LCD's in my coach also. It made a nice project while waiting for Minnesota weather to warm up some so we can get out camping. I went with a 26 inch in front overhead cabinet and a 19 inch in bedroom. I am very pleased with the end result. There will likely be many of these installs done in the next year or so. Enjoy

FrankO · 04-25-2008, 06:37 AM

Sorry folks, been out of town for the last week and did not check back here while gone. The last two pictures show the finished product. Are there additional pictures or angles you would like to see? I had read the posts for installing a 26" and wanted to go larger so i did the measurements and found that the 32" fits perfectly.
Sammie:
I am a little concerned about your comment regarding the screws loosing up. Do you think Lock-Tite" would solve this issue?
Frank O.

JD Allen · 04-25-2008, 07:52 AM

Yesterday I completed removing my old 12 volt house batteries and adding two new 6 volt batteries. The 6 volt batteries I purchased at Camping World were about 2 inches higher than my old 12 volt batteries. Winnebago used carriage bolts to hold down my old batteries but they were not long enough for my new 6 volt batteries. I whet to Home Depot looking for 5/16 inch carriage bolts that were about 12 inches long. They said no way so I bought a piece of 5/16 inch stainless steel threaded rod and made my own hold down bolts.

The remainder of the installation was easy. I have seen where others have added four 6 volt batteries to their Sightseers but I think two 6 volts are enough of an upgrade for our needs.

becks · 04-25-2008, 10:00 AM

JD....I just did the same battery upgrade on my 05 coach also. Bought the 5/8 rod when at Home Depot last wkend while there to buy my LCD TV mounting brackets. We do not dry camp all that much, so felt going to the two six volts from two 12,s would be fine. Now my coach is all ready to go. Only problem is our Minn. weather just will not warm up. Our camping partners headed to Kansas City this week to take in the truck races. I'm starting to think we should have went with them. Oh well, we're out next week no matter what the weather does.

Sammie · 04-25-2008, 02:23 PM

FrankO, I'm not sure how well your LCD Bracket is made but the metal that the set screws go through on the bracket that attaches to the back of my LCD was made out of metal that would bend pretty easy when tightening down the set screws. I ended up fabricating some small brackets for the set screws out of some 1/4 inch angle iron and then tack welding them to the LCD bracket. I believe I also used larger set screws instead of the ones supplied. Now the TV doesn't become loose when traveling.

FrankO · 04-25-2008, 09:35 PM

Thanks Sammie:
I will know more whne I take it out on our next trip. I will be keeping an eye on the mounting but I will say that the mounting that I bought seems very sturdy and I was able to firmly tighten tthe screws that went into the back of the set.
Frank O.

Sammie · 04-26-2008, 03:57 PM

Its not the screws that hold the bracket to the back of the TV. Its the set screws that hold the bracket on the TV to the bracket you mounted to your coach.

CJBROWN · 11-11-2008, 03:40 PM

Can we get a pic of the installed 32" LCD?
The fab-up looks great.

I did the 2X6V golf carts last year, and oh my, what a difference!

Gloria · 12-28-2016, 04:37 PM

We have a 2004 Itasca and have changed out the TVs. We are having trouble with the sound as the speakers are analog and won't work. We hooked up a sound bar but the TV would not control the sound. Any help would be appreciated.

RzRzRzR · 04-16-2018, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankO

Last week I pulled the old TV out and prepared the cabinet by cutting away some metal framework and building a wood back board attached to the metal box. I purchased a typical LCD TV Mount that then attached to the back board. I did all the measurements last week before cutting and assembly of the backboard. Today I mounted the TV and hooked her up. All fit perfectly and I did not have to do any cutting of the wood frame.

How did you cut the metal frame, and why did you decide to cut instead or removing it completely? I just got the the metal frame in my 2003 Sunrise and I’m still working out if the frame is structurally required or just to hold up the 75 pound CRT TV. Did you take pictures of how the frame was cut?

cbeierl · 04-16-2018, 08:12 PM

Just fyi, here's the install I did in my 2005 Vectra where I cut part of the metal framework away to make room for the TV: Front LCD TV install in 2005 Vectra (Long)

RzRzRzR · 04-16-2018, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbeierl

Just fyi, here's the install I did in my 2005 Vectra where I cut part of the metal framework away to make room for the TV: Front LCD TV install in 2005 Vectra (Long)

I saw your post earlier, but it looks like you left most of the metal frame and in this post it looks like the entire metal frame was cut not and I saw one that seemed completely removed. I’m wondering what that does structurally?

Oldchinahand · 04-16-2018, 11:39 PM

Nice job! This has to be one of the most popular upgrades going. Hard to keep up with technology. Our new project is replacing most of the coax with HDMI.