ATF: Mallard - M312 TV Mount

I have a question regarding mounting a TV in the entertainment center/buffet section of the camper. The 'stud' I have found in the middle of the area to mount the TV appears to be less than one inch thick. How much weight will this support and should I be worried that travel on the highways could potentially cause the 'stud' to break with the added weight, in turn causing damage to the entertainment center/buffet area. Any guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Interested as well as it it similar to my NT 24BHS wall swivel thickness. What type of screws (3/4"? would work best for using a wall mount?

If you could find two or more studs then you could screw a decorative board or covered plywood to those studs then attach your TV mount to the installed board.
That would give you more holding strength to the wall.

Peace
Dave

I just purchased a 2018 Mallard M26 and have the same issue. What I plan to do with it once I get home (out of town with it) is to remove the panel facing the living area and putting in a full piece of 3/4" plywood and replacing the panel. This will give a lot more strength where you can bolt in the TV mount and not worry about it coming of traveling rough roads.

We just bought a M28 and bought a mount where the TV can be removed during travel. Surprisingly, the stud in the middle is strong enough to allow a 40" tv to hang without effort. We remove the tv during travel so we don't have to worry about anything coming apart due to vibration. The mounts are available at Camping World or Amazon for about $25. Good luck!

Since this is my first post, I can't post photos yet, so I'll tell you what we did on our Mallard 312 and then post the pics later.

I tried to determine if there was a stud in the wall, but I couldn't, so I gently removed the power outlet cover and then partially unscrewed the two screws so I could remove the receptacle. I was then able to use my smartphone camera and determined there was a backing plywood and no stud.

So I went to the hardware store and got some Hollow Wall Anchors by Everbilt (#6-32 x 1-1/2 in, rated to 85 lbs) and some Scotch double-sided 1" wide mounting tape. We purchased an Onn Tilting TV Wall Mount (32-47", 80 lb capacity) from Wal-Mart:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ONN-Medium-Tilting-TV-Wall-Mount-For-32-47-TVs/51565662

I put two layers of double-sided mounting tape on the horizontal sections on the back side of the mount. I then centered the mount in the opening, just so it cleared the LED blue back light. I then drilled 4 holes through the backerboard, using the existing holes in the mount's vertical section as a guide.

I then removed the mount and set it aside. As directed by the wall-hanger instructions, I enlarged the 4 holes with a 5/16" drill bit. I then removed the screws from the wall anchors and inserted the anchors into the wall.

I then used the screws as guides through the holes in the mount and placed them in the wall so the screws went into the anchors and tightened them down.

Then I just followed the directions from the TV mount for installation on the TV. We bought a Visio 43", and it fits perfectly. We left it mounted for travel, and it did not move at all. We've gone on two trips since mounting the TV, and it still has not moved.

As soon as I'm approved to post pics, I will add them to this thread. Let me know if you have any questions in the meantime!

Here are the photos of our TV install on our Mallard 312. Sorry about the glare on the TV

Thanks Srtowens! I'll give that a shot. My main concern is with the conditions of some of the roads I have to travel, I worry that the bouncing would cause everything to come crashing down, including the backerboard/paneling.

thomes1993 said:

Thanks Srtowens! I'll give that a shot. My main concern is with the conditions of some of the roads I have to travel, I worry that the bouncing would cause everything to come crashing down, including the backerboard/paneling.

Click to expand...

You're welcome. Just an FYI--this mount makes it very easy to remove the TV. We have done that a few times and put it in the box for the drive. We got brave the last few camping trips and didn't unmount it. So far so good!

I bought these for our previous Heartland Trail Runner and moved them to our new Prowler:

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/master-mount-locking-cantilever-mount-small/51564

There is a larger swivel mount for bigger TV's . . .

In our Prowler, the entertainment center is similar to the ones pictured above and I was able to mount one of these swivel mounts to the center beam.

What I like about these mounts is that they lock to the wall without straps, so no removing the TV's while on the road.

I used the same TV's we had in the Trail Runner, but plan on going to a 32" screen for the living room (the one pictured below is a 24" Vizio).

We have a 19" in the bedroom.

Same TV - 1st shot in the Prowler, 2nd shot in our old Trail Runner: