- VERY SUBSTANTIAL MOUNT, HEAVY GAUGE STEEL
- DUAL ARMS EXTEND TO 20.5", FOLD TO LESS THAN 4.25"
- 180 DEGREE SWIVEL, +-15 DEGREE TILT
- UNIVERSAL DESIGN FITS MOST 32-65" DISPLAYS UP TO 165LBS
- INSTALLATION MANUAL AND ALL HARDWARE INCLUDED
WOW. I bought a cheetah mount that only tilts for my 52" SAMSUNG LCD TV. But the configuration of my living room/kitchen area had me thinking I'd rather go with an articulating wall mount, so I can turn it if I'm cooking or if I have people over on the sectional sofa I can turn it that (the opposite) way. So I bought this puppy (I kept the other tilting-only mount for my bedroom LCD TV which I haven't purchased yet). After taxes and S&H, it came out to $106. A similar product at BestBuy and hhgregg costs well over $300 (bestbuy has some that articulate and tilt that are up to $750!!!)
I'm a civil engineer, I work on designing things as a career. When I opened the box and saw the structural bulk of this thing, I was very impressed. I knew my brand new TV would be secure hanging from this thing. It came with a BUNCH of extra hardware in case you needed to use it (I ended up using the screws they supplied for the connection to the TV, since mine were too short). I also used their spacers to help ensure full thread engagement.
I wanted to install the TV on the wall and run the cables through the wall, so I had a lot of work cut out for me. Also, I live on a first floor condo unit, so my studs were in groups of 3 and only 12" apart. So I had to cut a whole in the drywall and add another adjacent stud to it. The lag screws they supplied are more than efficient. Just be sure to have the right sized screwdriver head to avoid stripping the heads.
Once I got the TV up I load tested it. I brought it out about 3/4 the total extension distance and first pulled down on it a bit. Then I slowly transferred all my weight to the mount. I heard a little bit of stress in the wood, but after all 215lbs of me was hanging from it, I knew that my 66 lb tv would be just fine. It's only upon writing this review that I see it's rated for 180 lbs. so it's a good thing that I didn't see that before load-testing it. even though, being an engineer and all) I know things are derated all the time. The instructions were a little fuzzy, but it's still pretty easy to not screw up.I recently purchased a new 42" plasma TV for my living room: the Panasonic TC-P42X1. I bought the TV with the intention of hanging it above my fire place, but was shocked to find out that an articulating mount at Best Buy was $300! So I did what any sane, sensible American would do; I told Best Buy where to stick it and went to browse on Amazon.
After some consideration and reading all of the reviews for various mounts, I decided to go with this Cheetah two-arm articulating mount. Not only was the price less than half of the Best Buy mount, but I also liked the idea of two arms holding my brand new TV.
So I got the mount and found that it was really easy to install. I don't see what all the fuss is about with the directions being "difficult". I think it helps if you have a technical mind (I'm an electrical engineer) because I had no problems with the directions at all. There are no assembly pictures in the directions, so if you are a visual learner, that might be why it's difficult.
Now, on to the mount. It's of very, very, very solid construction. It is made completely out of a steel frame and steel hardware. I had no trouble hanging the mount on my wall studs (and yes this mount is made specifically for 16" spacing, but can go up to about 18"). I would recommend picking up some new lag bolt hardware to hang the mount on the wall, though. I got some 1/4" lag bolts with lock washers from Lowe's pretty cheap. I would also suggest getting a second pair of hands to help you mount this beast. It is quite heavy.
I would also recommend tightening all of the hardware that comes pre-assembled on the mount BEFORE YOU HANG THE MOUNT. I say this because I did not do this and I noticed that one of the bolts that holds the arm was on its way to falling off after I had the mount on the wall and the TV hung. And it's rather difficult to get on those bolts and give them a good torque-ing.
But the action of the mount is fairly smooth. It is a little difficult to move the TV where you want it, but once it's there, I have no worries about it falling down. And the range of motion is superb for my use. I'm able to swing the TV screen approx. 60-70 degrees in either direction.
Now my one complaint about the mount (and the reason behind the 4.5 of 5 stars) is the way the TV sits on the mount. The mount comes with two brackets that attach to your TV and then the TV hangs on the mount via these brackets. The only thing that holds the brackets to the mount is the weight of the TV and a metal bar that runs along the bottom of the brackets to keep the TV from tilting off. This would be okay if I wasn't moving the TV constantly, but I find that with this setup, whenever I push my TV back flat against the wall it always moves a little bit on the mount. It's a little unnerving and a little annoying too since I like the TV to be in the center of the fireplace.
Other than that, the mount is very solid and I would certainly buy one again if I needed to get an articulating mount.Bought this mount for a Samsung LN46A750 46-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color also purchased at Amazon.
I was impressed with the sheer weight of this mount as it weighs nearly as much as the TV I mounted to it. It left me with the impression it could hold what it claims (165 lbs.). I weigh around 260 lbs. and leaned heavily on the empty mount after I put it on the wall (before attaching TV) and it didn't budge.
Its appearance is somewhat stylish for what it is. I have it tilted out fairly well so there is quite a bit showing to any who enter the room, yet it blends w/ the back of the TV and looks professional.
The instructions were a bit flaky, but it got the point across as I was able to mount it and this was the first time I have installed a wall mount. Although, I do consider myself fairly intelligent and do DIY stuff all the time so I'm not new to such things.
The range of movement is awesome...this thing will move any which way you try and with a fair amount of ease. I didn't mess with any "settings" as the instructions didn't say much about any of the levers on it. It did what I wanted by default.
Altogether a good buy and I recommend this mount to anyone.Easily Holds my 60" plasma. Tilts and swivels just like it supposed too. Took me about 45 minutes to get the mount up and on the wall (by myself) and another 10 minutes later we hung the TV. Some have mentioned in previous reviews that it doesn't move very easily. This can be adjusted by slightly loosening one of the ny-lock nuts on the swivel points. I wanted mine to be a little stiff, but not quite as stiff as it came. The adjustment was easy.
Some folks said that it didn't swivel to one side as far as they wanted. This is dependent on the size of the TV (how far it extends on the side of the mounts). A smaller TV will get more swivel before it contacts the wall, than my 60" does. I get about 20 degrees of swivel at full extension.
Some of the folks complained about the instructions. I didn't see any issue with them, but I only checked them to see what the plastic spacers were used for (rounded back TV's most won't need them.) For those that didn't like the instructions, let me briefly describe the mount process. It should be noted that I went out and bought my own mounting hardware (lag bolts, 8mm hex head bolts, washers and lock washers) Also, if your studs are more than 18" apart the mount won't work for you.
Find the stud locations with a good stud finder (I use a Zircon Stud Sensor e50 Electronic Stud Finder ).
Make your measurements for how far up on the wall you want the top of the mount and mark location.
Take a 2 foot level to your height mark and scribe a level line across where the studs are located.
Find the center of the stud.
-I use a blunt tip, finishing nail tap holes in the wall till you find the edges.
-The blunt tip is so it doesn't damage water or electrical lines.
-Once you find one edge, the other edge will be about 1.5" the other side of it.
Mark the center of your two edge marks on the scribed level line. This is where you will drill your pilot holes.
Take your level and scribe a vertical level line down from each of the above locations.
Determine the correct size bit to use for the lag screw you are using.
-I used 3/8" x 2.5" lag screws and used 7/32" drill bit for pilot holes.
Drill the top 2 pilot holes (at least 1/2" shorter than the lag screw length).
Mount the rack to the wall with the top 2 lag screws. (Leave it just a bit loose)
Check the level and tighten the screws.
You should see the vertical lines in the holes for the lag screws, drill the 2nd set of pilot holes at those locations and put in the bottom lag screws.
Extend the mount to its full out position.
Adjust the tension on any of the ny-lock nuts at pivot points.
On the face where the TV mounts there are 5 bolts. Put a level on the plate that holds the TV. Loosen those bolts and adjust for level if necessary.
Install the tilt lock screws to TV hanging brackets.
Mount the hanging brackets on the TV , with lock washers(see TV user guide for mounting screw diameter and depth).
-Mine were 8mm and needed a mounting depth of 10mm 16mm (.39" .63") . Adjust depth with washers if needed.
Use the plastic spacers of you have a rounded back TV.
Hang the TV, move left or right to center on wall mount.
Tighten screws on bottom of TV hanging brackets to lock into place and prevent it from coming off.
It looks great on the wall and the 5" off set gives the set a true floating look on the wall. My TV weighs 84 pounds and the mount doesn't even groan or squeak when it is being moved.
A rare 5 star review from me. There might be better TV mounts out there, but at this price point this is an awesome mount. I should also note this is my second Cheetah mount in the house and when I need another one I will be buying this brand.
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I have a 50" Samsung plasma that weighs just over 80 pounds, so the specs are well within the range of this mount. The directions are OK, but lack some detail and any illustrations would be helpful. That being said, it is not rocket science to figure it out. Spending some time looking over the product, the tv and the mounting location, I figured out the items I would need.The mounting hardware was a collection of items that did not work with this mount, such as: wood lag screws too short and smallish; no screws to mount tilt arms to back of tv; dry wall mounting inserts (per instructions & common sense, this should never ever be installed just to drywall); and a plethora of various other screws, washers, spacers, etc. that could not be used with this application or mount.
So, I made a trip to my local Home Depot & Lowe's to pick up the necessary items.
I bought some M8 (1.0 threads) x 30 mm machine screws, 5/16" x 1" flat washers (could not find M8x1" washer, but these work) & M8 locking washers to mount the tilt arms to the back of my tv. The instructions suggest using the screws that previously occupied the mounting holes on the back of the tv, but when you add the tilt arms and both washers (which are necessary, flat washer to distribute the load more effectively across the width of the arm & the locking washer to make sure the screw will not back out at all), the screws were not nearly long enough to mount. My tv will accommodate a 600x400 Versa mount. The tilt arms have various mounting holes on the bottom of the arm and slots on the top. Based on the size and weight balance of your tv (i.e. where the heaviest areas of the tv are, mine is in the bottom), you need to move the arms up or down to position where on the wall mount the bulk of the tv weight will rest (more on this later.....). Unfortunately, the slots have dividers in them (separates into three slots and they limit the number of holes that are usable on the bottom of the tilt arm). The importance of having flexibility to move the arms up and down on the back of the tv is not limited just to the weight distribution of the tv, but also to slightly adjust the vertical position of the tv on the wall. No matter how many measurements you make, you never know exactly how the tv will rest as it is so much weight to support that it will pull down slightly and affect the vertical position and there are various tilt options (which is critical if you are trying to center it in a specific location-mine is in a custom built wall/cabinet unit). My suggestion to the manufacuturer would be to make both the top and bottom mounting positions with open slots for their entire length to give ultimate flexibility.
Now, on to mounting the wall bracket. My mount came assembled, arms attached to wall plate. Together, they are very heavy and awkward to hold with the arms extended. My initial plan was to mark my first hole, have my wife hold the mount up and I would screw the upper left corner screw in, level the wall plate and then drill the upper right hole. My wife said, "I can't hold that up, why don't you just take the arms off......." What a great idea (which I can honestly say I did not have).......Just a simply ratchet on four screws and off the arms come and you are left with a wall plate that weights much less and not awkward at all to hold for install. The hardest part of this was putting wood screws all the way in........I bought four 1/4" x 2.5" galvanized wood screws, 1/4" x 1" flat washers & 1/4" locking washers to mount the wall plate to studs. The biggest issue here was not the mount itself, it was the location of the studs relative to where the center of my built in cabinet was. The wall plate allows for some flexibility by having slots for the mounting screws. The wall plate is made for 16" O.C. studs (standard for home construction), but the slots are wide enough for about 18". Additionally, the bracket that the tilt arms hang on is wider than the wall mount and gives you an additional couple of inches of flexibility. Unfortunately in my situation, I was still approximately 1.5" off center.......but again, this is all based on the stud location, not the mount itself. The mount is solid on the wall, and when you hang or pull the tv out, you can hear the wood creaking a little bit but there is no sag.......and with 80+ pounds extended about 2'from the wall, to not sag or twist is impressive.......the mount will hold. As several of the other reviewers have suggested, mounting plywood to the studs or solid blocking between the studs can alleviate this issue........Once the wall plate is on, I just reinstalled the arms very easily.
Now, the biggest issue I have.....the tilt........I followed the instructions and tightened the center bolt and nut on the tilt arms as tight as they would absolutely go. I also tightened the plastic knobs as tight as they would go. When we placed the tv on the bracket, the tilt was automatically pulled all the way down so the tv was all the way at the bottom of the tilt angle and did not work for my location. We must have taken it off the mount a half dozen times, retightend the bolt and knobs, moved the arms up and down on the various mounting holes (on mine, I can only use about 3 of the 10 holes as discussed above) and nothing worked.........no matter how tight, due to the weight of the tv, it would always slide to the lowest tilt angle. So, I logged on yesterday afternoon to start scouring the reviews.......and low and behold, others had suggestions........I have to give credit to Joseph from IL for his fix of this problem (thanks Joseph)........I bought various diameter Cleve pins (machine screws will work as well, these Cleve pins are smooth so they sit flush and won't scratch the arms) to slide into the tilt slot to limit it's motion.......They have to be at least 2" long to pass all the way through.....I tried 1/2", 3/8" & 1/4" diameter and settled on the 1/4" as it had just the right amount of tilt. This is a permanent fix, granted it removes your ability to adjust the tilt frequently, but due to the difficulty to grab and tighten/loosen the knobs (the mount bracket gets in the way) and how hard you have to crank down on the knobs, I do not believe that you actually can use the tilt function on the fly.....you pretty much have to take the tv down, set the tilt and put it back up.......you can very easily pull the tv away from the wall, and rotate it side to side, but tilting is difficult........although, my thought is that you can set it and forget it on the tilt angle for the most part.......
The final issue I have is that after getting through all of this, my tv is about 1/2" out of level from left to right (which is really bugging my wife)......not sure exactly the cause because I know the wall plate is dead level (I checked it many times).........I believe it is a combination, of sliding the tv to one side of the hanging bracket to try and get it in the center of my built in cabinet and maybe the mounting holes on the back of the tv being a little uneven.......just not quite sure, but understandable.........I am now going to move the mount over slightly (to center it on the built in cabinet) and mount the wall plate to accomodate the amount that it is out of level.........kind of a pain at this point, but after all this I (ok, my wife) really wants it right........
Unfortunately, it is impossible to diagnose many of these issues until you actually have it hung on the wall........you really need the entire weight of the tv to be supported by the mount and see what gravity does. So, you are likely going to mount the wall bracket twice, unless you have a smaller tv on the lower end of the specs for this mount.......
Overall, my only issue with this mount is the tilt angle issue.....but that is very easily over come with a couple of pins that cost about $4.......I did have to adapt to my specific install and buy some additional hardware, however, all said and done I have about $15 in additional hardware and the initial cost was less than half of what a similar (with less features) one cost at Best Buy........this mount is extremely sturdy and well built.......hanging a 80+ pound tv about 2' from the wall is very impressive.......I would recommend this mount, for the cost and features, it is hard to beat.......Just thought I would pass along some tips to make the install easier.....
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