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"Willy Mammoth" - Volvo 730 RV Hauler Build


bmzero

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bm,

 

That is great work you have done on the LCD tv mount. In my experience this past summer I can see why Volvo's new factory mount warns that you "HAVE" to use the corner mounting brackets and not just the mount to TV. The TV shakes a lot going down the road. They use a X style pattern from the mount with strap to the corners of the TV. I works very well. I wouldn't just trust the mount to TV bolts. I think you will rip the metal out of the TV. I think some type of modification to support the outer case of the LCD would be better. Here is the factory Volvo mount on our 22" LCD.

 

LCD%2520TV%2520mount.jpg

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bm,

 

That is great work you have done on the LCD tv mount. In my experience this past summer I can see why Volvo's new factory mount warns that you "HAVE" to use the corner mounting brackets and not just the mount to TV. The TV shakes a lot going down the road. They use a X style pattern from the mount with strap to the corners of the TV. I works very well. I wouldn't just trust the mount to TV bolts. I think you will rip the metal out of the TV. I some type of modification to support the outer case of the LCD would be better. Here is the factory Volvo mount on our 22" LCD.

 

LCD%2520TV%2520mount.jpg

 

Yeah, I have been thinking a lot about what Roger said as well. I definitely don't want it falling. I have already planned on adding another brace to stabilize it from shaking. I will probably add on some top and bottom brackets to that brace to better distribute the load from the screws. That should be a sufficient amount of overkill to fit right in with the theme of a HDT RV Hauler. :D

 

Thanks for the photo, Rick.

"Willy Mammoth" - Volvo 730, Sold

Heartland Cyclone 4000 Toy Hauler
T-Minus 26 years and counting to being a full timer.

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WHEN I put in a TV...which I will, eventually...... I'm just going to set it at the end of the lower bunk on the area by the passenger window. Unmounted - sitting on its stand. For travel I will simply lock it down on the bench somehow. I'm looking to use a 28-32".

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2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
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Road vibrations are one thing to consider but something that shouldn't be overlooked is what happens if you have an accident and come to a very sudden stop. That may well have figured into Volvo's excessive looking but very strong LCD mount.

 

In this design I like the way that the support is ahead of the TV when it is folded up and the support bracket is under the TV in this design, that is going to do a lot to restrain the TV in an accident.

 

15979641149_e75fddc8bd_b.jpg

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I just joined this group last night & so glad I did.Want to get as much info I can on HDT.Right now I am thinking of a Volvo 780.bmzero I love the photos & hope I am able to get a truck as beautiful as yours.I think you know by now that the coating you put on takes away from the light.I was a grip for 36 yrs in the film biz & we would put neutral density on car lights & windows to take the intensity of the light down.Looking foward to seeing more of your photos & like to thank this group for all the good info

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I just joined this group last night & so glad I did.Want to get as much info I can on HDT.Right now I am thinking of a Volvo 780.bmzero I love the photos & hope I am able to get a truck as beautiful as yours.I think you know by now that the coating you put on takes away from the light.I was a grip for 36 yrs in the film biz & we would put neutral density on car lights & windows to take the intensity of the light down.Looking foward to seeing more of your photos & like to thank this group for all the good info

 

Thanks for the compliments, John. Yes, I do agree that the tint is taking away from the light output. I already called the body shop about it. As soon as the truck goes down for the axle removal, I'm taking the lights back to them to get the tint removed. I really like the look of the tint, but I think it's causing more light degradation than we expected.

 

Good luck finding a truck. The 780 should be relatively easy to find. There were quite a few on www.truckpaper.com when I was looking. That site is great because it lets you specify a lot of filters (ex. I-Shift transmission, mileage, etc.) during your search.

"Willy Mammoth" - Volvo 730, Sold

Heartland Cyclone 4000 Toy Hauler
T-Minus 26 years and counting to being a full timer.

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They say every idea is an improvement of someone else's, anyway this is a start. What about Styrofoam corners on the tv? Just like when it came packed in the original box. To support TV in the up position, a strap, seat belt or ratcheting strap tiedown? If the strap was attached to the roof somehow, much like the clips and web belts in the other areas of the cab, I'm thinking the buckle or ratchet be in the hollow in the back of the tv. The belt would be going over radiused or rounded corners so as not to make them stress points. The blocks of Styrofoam on the 4 corners would act as spacers to keep screen from hitting the light. Suck the belt tight.

 

Maybe all the roads in the US are smooth, ours aren't.

 

Blame this on 4 am thinking.

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They say every idea is an improvement of someone else's, anyway this is a start. What about Styrofoam corners on the tv? Just like when it came packed in the original box. To support TV in the up position, a strap, seat belt or ratcheting strap tiedown? If the strap was attached to the roof somehow, much like the clips and web belts in the other areas of the cab, I'm thinking the buckle or ratchet be in the hollow in the back of the tv. The belt would be going over radiused or rounded corners so as not to make them stress points. The blocks of Styrofoam on the 4 corners would act as spacers to keep screen from hitting the light. Suck the belt tight.

 

Maybe all the roads in the US are smooth, ours aren't.

 

Blame this on 4 am thinking.

I did look at doing straps in the up position. There are already two buckles attached to the ceiling. I could use those in a criss cross pattern and buckle the other ends to the main TV tube. I think that would work well, but I can't see us travelling with the TV in the up position. So, for that reason, I did not pursue it.

 

Im going to build the last "driving" support brace today. I'm going to look into reinforcing the TV attachment points as well.

"Willy Mammoth" - Volvo 730, Sold

Heartland Cyclone 4000 Toy Hauler
T-Minus 26 years and counting to being a full timer.

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A suggestion for a simple addition tie down.

 

You can add a channel or angle at the top of your current mount that wraps around to the front of the TV and then add two tubes with another channel or angle that fit inside and bolted to your current TV mount and secure the bottom, this will hold the TV in place in case the mounting bolts into the TV chassis are not adequate enough. Use some padding between the angles and the TV.

 

Please excuse my crude sketch on one of your pictures below:

HDTTVmount_zps7b7833a7.jpg

 

You will probably want to come up with a way to secure the TV in the up position as you may not always want the kids to spend all their travel time watching TV as they will miss out on the joys of seeing the country. Now if you have a way of putting a camera facing forward that then shows on the TV that would be a nice alternative to watching video games and DVD's, LOL.

 

Very nice looking mount by the way.

 

You may find you will have to keep the curtains closed behind the front seats at night as the screen may make it too bright inside the cab.

 

Hope to be able to check it out in person at the ECR in April.

 

Dave

2005 Freightliner Century S/T, Singled, Air ride ET Jr. hitch
2019 46'+ Dune Sport Man Cave custom 5th wheel toy hauler
Owner of the 1978 Custom Van "Star Dreamer" which might be seen at a local car show near you!

 

Check out http://www.hhrvresource.com/

for much more info on HDT's.

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x2 on the brightness aspect. Even my Note3 used as navigation is too bright at night. I have to figure out if Google maps has a night mode.

 

My 7" Android tablet is fine, with copilot in night mode.

 

The fact that the TV is facing away will help a lot though.

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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Google Navigation should automatically switch into night mode, based on time of day.

It sure did not on my phone....I'll play with it some. I was using Google Maps for Navigation.

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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Jack, I'm guessing you might have an iPhone? The link below (in the comments) talks about it being an Android-only thing, but the article talks about how you can invert the screen colors on an iPhone to basically accomplish the same thing:

 

http://lifehacker.com/invert-your-phones-colors-for-nighttime-navigation-508715681

 

It also sounds like it's a darkness thing not a time-of-day thing as I suggested.

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David, I would NEVER own an iPhone. I have a Note3. I want a phone that can actually DO something.

 

I'll look into why my phone did not change over. It certainly was annoying. Until I turned it off ;)

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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Thanks for the feedback. Dave, that's almost exactly what I had in mind for the bottom mount, except that I want to spread out the bottom mounts a little to help with any rotational stress.

 

The TV does not block any of the windshield view when sitting in the rear. That's one of the benefits of hanging it from the ceiling. It will be far more secure in the down position than the up position, but I'm not going to paint the mount until after it has had significant road testing in case the design needs to change. So, there's still opportunity to end up with a stable up position.

 

I do not plan on keeping the TV powered on during most of the trips. That's the entire reason for the truck in the first place - to get them out on the road experiencing the country. Contrary to the size of this TV, I'm not really a big fan of TV in general, but it should make the trip more enjoyable for them, which is a goal.

 

Jack, Google Maps does have a night mode. It flips the contrast to black and should come on by itself when it gets dark outside, based on the time of day on the tablet. That's what I use for navigation as well and love it. Your tablet should also have a brightness setting where you can get it very dim.

 

The trip we made in "Willy" for Christmas was our test run with the kids. We ended up shutting the curtain at night and they were able to keep the lights on and color and do their workbooks. I expect the curtain will be in high demand even more with the TV. Which brings up my next opportunity. I want the four rear speakers to be able to be separated from the front two speakers. That way, from the sleeper, we can select from a couple of inputs: 1) the front receiver, 2) the TV's sound. It has proven fairly difficult to come up with the electronics to pull this off. I do not want to run the rear receiver off AC power, so that pretty much eliminates the easy options of just getting a household receiver. I haven't found a good DC headunit/receiver that has a digital coaxial input, which is the audio output of the TV. I'm aware of several ways to convert from digital out to analog, but I would like to exhaust the search before I added anymore pieces to the puzzle. I'm still looking.

 

I wasn't able to work on the mount yesterday. Hopefully I'll have some time this afternoon.

"Willy Mammoth" - Volvo 730, Sold

Heartland Cyclone 4000 Toy Hauler
T-Minus 26 years and counting to being a full timer.

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If you aren't concerned about cords, you might just do a headphone jack cord with a spliter and a couple sets of headphones. Run the extension to the back of the sleeper put a dual outlet on and secure it then,they could just plug in there.

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With one of our previous interiors in our van, we used a double pole single throw toggle switch to control a set of speakers with two stereos heads. This way the kids could listen to their stereo in the back but if They were not on board, I could use all the speakers with the stereo up front.

 

Dave

2005 Freightliner Century S/T, Singled, Air ride ET Jr. hitch
2019 46'+ Dune Sport Man Cave custom 5th wheel toy hauler
Owner of the 1978 Custom Van "Star Dreamer" which might be seen at a local car show near you!

 

Check out http://www.hhrvresource.com/

for much more info on HDT's.

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If you aren't concerned about cords, you might just do a headphone jack cord with a spliter and a couple sets of headphones. Run the extension to the back of the sleeper put a dual outlet on and secure it then,they could just plug in there.

 

I wish that was an option. It would be much more simple and probably a lot quieter for my wife and me. Unfortunately, with two kids and a boxer puppy cords equal disaster.

 

With one of our previous interiors in our van, we used a double pole single throw toggle switch to control a set of speakers with two stereos heads. This way the kids could listen to their stereo in the back but if They were not on board, I could use all the speakers with the stereo up front.

 

Dave

 

Dave, I hadn't really thought about a passive switcher. I do think there's a good place for that in this setup. Thanks for the idea.

 

That still leaves the problem of getting the audio out from the TV (has optical an digital outs) to the rear head unit. Hopefully I'll have some time to do some research today.

"Willy Mammoth" - Volvo 730, Sold

Heartland Cyclone 4000 Toy Hauler
T-Minus 26 years and counting to being a full timer.

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Drop the cords from above and from the rear wall. That works well. Or, put in wireless headphones.

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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bm,

I couldn't tell but this BT transmitter could be powered by the TV's usb port if it has one. Then transmit to either BT headphones or BT speakers.

 

That would work great if the TV had an analog out on it, but unfortunately most new TV's don't have analog outputs, or at least this one does not. I only have digital out on this TV. I may just have to convert from digital to analog and then from analog getting the input into the rear head unit is no problem. Then, I would use a passive switcher like Dave recommended to manage the speaker configuration.

"Willy Mammoth" - Volvo 730, Sold

Heartland Cyclone 4000 Toy Hauler
T-Minus 26 years and counting to being a full timer.

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