Mounting TV in Cougar 27RKS bedroom

[cynjon]

Hello all! I'm taking delivery of a 2015 Cougar 27RKS tomorrow and one of the first projects I'd like to knock out is to get a TV mounted in the master bedroom of the unit. There is a sticker on the exterior wall near the door that indicates a TV mounting area, so I know there is supposedly some kind of backer there. I did a bunch of searches here and thought it might be a galvanized metal backer, but some exploration with a powerful rare earth magnet did not reveal anything in that area. Therefore, I'm assuming that the backer is actually wood. The question is, how big is the wood backer, and what is my max screw length that can be used without damaging the siding? Also, short of using a wireless HDMI extender, any ideas on running a HDMI cable to the vicinity of the TV? It boggles my mind how the RV manufacturers can continue to build RVs without HDMI hook-ups in this day and age. Thanks for any help you can provide!

[JRTJH]

The TV mount plate in our 2014 XLite 27RKS is an aluminum plate welded between two aluminum vertical studs. That's probably why you can't locate it with a magnet. The walls are 2" thick, so I wouldn't suggest anything longer than about 1.25 or 1.5" long to mount the TV.

As for "specialty items" like HDMI cables "preinstalled by the manufacturer".... Well, if Keystone opted to "preinstall" everything that some owner might want, the list would be so long and the cost so large that most of us probably wouldn't buy the trailer. AV cable at each TV mounting location vs HDMI cable at each of those locations would add to the overall cost and would be something that most of us probably would never use. Honestly, at least with my eyesight, the difference between watching OTA TV on HDMI vs AV cable on a 15" TV ??? I can't tell the difference. On a 19" or 22" TV, we honestly don't notice the difference and, for what we use the TV in the bedroom, I wouldn't pay extra for HDMI. So, I'd guess that Keystone doesn't "preinstall HDMI" because the demand is so low that the cost can't be absorbed into the MSRP and remain competitive with Jayco, Forest River and the other competition. Besides, for most of us, if we were to opt for an improvement in the build, we'd most likely prefer that an increase in MSRP would include better quality tires, axles, wet bolt kits and even disc brakes rather than HDMI cable in the roof......

[cynjon]

Thanks for the response...I'll do some checking once I pick up the unit today. The only references I've seen to backers has been for galvanized steel or wood, never thought about the backer being aluminum. Any idea on the size of the backer? I can't feel any difference between the area with the backer and the areas without. I'll try a stud finder to see if that sheds any light on the mystery. It would be nice to be able to pinpoint the location somewhat, so I don't mount the bracket too high or too low and end up with screws that are not in the backer.

[cynjon]

Just a quick update in case someone has the same question down the line...as John said, the backer is indeed aluminum, despite my dealer telling me that they checked with Keystone and were told that it was a wood backer. I used a stud finder to get an idea how big the backer was, drilled the holes and was able to use sheet metal screws to attach the TV mount. Feels solid, but I plan to pull the TV off the mount when I pull the camper anyhow.