New Main TV
I should have done this a long time ago.
The 360 RB has the main TV over by the entrance door. It's opposite the sofa so that's good, but there isn't a lot of room over there and I've always hated that there is only a 32" TV (not to mention that it's 720p and not a great TV anyway). A few months ago I added a Visio sound bar with wireless sub. Huge improvement in sound, but still small, crappy picture. I was about to at least upgrade to a better 32" TV since they don't make anything anymore between 32 and 39/40 and the 39/40 won't fit there. But finally I realized that if I put in a swing mount I could get a larger TV in there and still be able to open the cabinet doors to the side and below. I mounted an Omni mount from Lowes. I got the big one because I think you absolutely need the large horizontal bracket for mounting and not the small vertical brackets that smaller mounts come with intended for screwing into studs. The bracket went in right about where the old bracket was. I then replaced the TV with a Samsung 40" 4K Smart TV. Holy HD Heaven Batman!
The mount is definitely sturdy and it's not going anywhere. I bolted it in on the top using 1/4" bolts with 2" washers on the back (to spread the force on that thin panel), which I think is critical because of the leverage of the TV when the swing is extended even partially. The old mount was just screwed into that 1/2" panel but most of the force is down so it worked. At the bottom I couldn't get my arm in that far down to fasten nuts on the back side so I mounted it a little lower than the old bracket so I could use 1 1/4" #10 screws into the edge of the horizontal board at the bottom instead of the thin 1/2" vertical panel. No worries even if the TV is fully extended, it's plenty strong. I've attached some pictures to show the mount and finished product.
In addition to being able to get to the cabinets, I can now swivel it to improve viewing from the dinette or the drivers captain chair. For travel, I'll secure the mount so that it's fully retracted and can't pull out. By getting a smart TV I now have access to all the streaming services I use. Samsung has a good selection and I can permanently move the Roku stick to the outside. Now if I can just figure out a swivel mount out there...
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