Cougar 27RES Behind TV Storage

[Alan B.]

Our Cougar 27RES travel trailer has a huge storage area behind the TV. The TV is on a swing-arm mount to move it to access the storage. We end up constantly wrestling with the TV to move it sufficiently to get to the storage.

Does anyone else here have a similar design, and come up with any improvements?

I have lubricated the swing arm joints which helped a bit.

This storage is our only pantry area so we really need to fully utilize it.

Thanks for any ideas!

[flybouy]

How old is it? If it's new give it some time. Something being "too tight" is a relative description. If the pivot points are rivets I could only offer lubing it with a dry silicone spray. WD40 would not be my choice nor 3 in 1 oil or any "wet" oil based product as dust and lint will adhear and make it gummy. If it's too loose then it won't stay in place and could swing if it's unbalanced or not plumb.

[dutchmensport]

For anyone wanting to know what the OP is describing, here's a YouTube video. Skip to 1:09 minutes into the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GmJiORsp6Y

Looking at the television mount, a few seconds after 1:09 when the camera zooms in a little, it looks like the arm the television rests on is a pretty standard television mount. The design of the cabinet doesn't leave any options other than, maybe, replacing the arm with a new one.

If it is really THAT awkward, then maybe you can build a new cabinet door that will fit over the entire open space behind the television with proper hinges for an easy swing cabinet door. Then mount the television to the door. That is about the only option I can see without actually standing inside the camper and trying to figure something different out.

You always have the option to remove the television completely?

[jsb5717]

Our setup was very similar to yours with the TV swing arm mounted to the inset vertical support.

I removed all of that and made a hinged door that has the TV mounted directly to it. I thought about creating an inset in the door for the swing arm mount but we decided we didn't need it, but that's also an option.

I then added the half shelf that also allows space for the bass bin that works with our sound bar. I also wired in some rope light and a motion sensor. The space is now easy access for extra storage and also now serves as our charging station for our devices.

[Alan B.]

Dutchmensport, jsb5717, thank you both for the suggestion to add a door to the cabinet. That seems like the best option.

[jsb5717]

FYI, pay attention to the cabinet floor above the current TV support. In ours it was also the main support for that cabinet floor, which is only 1/4" plywood, so I needed to reinforce it since we carry pots and pans up there. Yours might be different but not likely.

[jasin1]

you could do something like this…might need one of those cheap wooden miter boxes and a little handsaw…it’s pretty self explanatory https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlysatisf...tic_carpentry/