WARNING: I'm going to write a book here so you'll have to deal with a lot of reading...
Unfortunately not all cars have a domelight or anything in the rear roof to help guide you. Look around for any push clips in the headliner. 99% of the time these pushclips go directly into a support beam.
As far as mounting if possible you will always get a much more solid mount if you can hit a factory roof beam, but if not there are options. When no beam is useable, I like to use 1/2 or 3/4 wood (MDF = medium density fiberboard) attached to the headliner itself. The downside to this is the stiffness of headliners and some cars hanging a TV from the headliner alone won't even work..They just bounce around too much to even be able to watch.
In your case I'm going to say that hanging from the headliner should be fine assuming your not installing a monster tv. I've done a bunch of caravans in the past, but honestly it's been too long to remember just how I ended up mounting it..
A couple tips on where to position the tv:
1. Take the mounting shroud for your tv and place it up against the headliner. If there is a flat spot that would be ideal. Otherwise you have to cut the shroud to match the contour of the headliner which can be a pain.
2. Mount the tv to the shroud and hold it up in what you think is a good spot..Sit back in the seat and flip the screen down..Is it too close to your face? Too far away? Remember most times kids will be watching it so they will be further down in the seats. You want to find a good spot in the middle like I said right in your face is no good and too far front is no good.
3. Now go sit in the front seat and see if the position interferes at all. If so you definately have it too far front. Hitting your head on the screen while driving is no good..
That's it..Once you are pretty set on the position of the tv take a pick tool or an awl and push up (just enough for the headliner to be marked!) through the mounting holes of the tv to mark the headliner.
At the same time you may want to take some masking tape and put a couple pieces around the perimeter of the shroud. This way you know just how much headliner you can cut away and the shroud will still cover it.
Once that's done take a FRESH razor blade and carefully cut out a small section of the headliner. I usually cut a small rectangle out around the sections I marked with the awl. Feel up there for any wiring that may be running.
If it's clear you can cut a larger hole until you have something big enough to work with. At this point it will be very easy to tell if you can hit a beam or will have to use a piece of wood.
Now before you do anything else at this point I would run your wiring. Again every car is different when it comes to running wires. You have to sort of feel out the headliner to see which way will be the easiest. Some common options:
1. Run wiring from the hole you cut to the front of the windshield by the rear view mirror. Then go left or right and down the a-pillar.
2. Run wiring from the hole you cut 90 degree left or right to the side of the van. Bring the wiring down the side b-pilllar then up to the front or bring the wiring forward along the headliner and down the a-pillar.
3. Run wiring from the hole you cut at about a 45 degree angle to the side of the headliner and down the a-pillar. (This is the most common for me)
Now back to mounting..Some tips for using wood:
1. Obviously the bigger the piece of wood you can stuff up there, the more surface area of the headliner it uses, the more the weight distribution is spread out. This means less bouncing around for the tv.
2. Once you get the wood up there put a couple small screws through the headliner and into the wood to keep it in place. Nothing worse than trying to screw a tv to a piece of wood that is moving all around on you.
3. Once again hold your tv and shroud up to the roof, center it, and use your awl to mark the wood itself. Pull down the tv and start a couple screws on the marks you made. This makes it much easier in the long run.
Some tips for screwing into a beam:
1. Most beams have at least a few holes already drilled in them. These holes will almost always be to big or not in a spot that helps you any. Take your awl and stick it through one of the holes slowlyuntil you hit the roof itself. This gives you an idea of how much room you have to screw in. In most cases there is very little clearance between the beams and the actual roof.
2. Use the awl method earlier and hold the tv up to the roof. Using your awl through the tv's mounting holes, mark a few spots on the beam. Now take a 1/8" or so drill bit and predrill the holes. Remember how much clearance you had earlier? Drill slowly so you don't go through the roof when it finally goes through.
Ok now your finally ready to screw the tv up. One of the most crucial parts of installing a tv is selecting the right size screw. Too long and your gonna go through the roof, too short and you'll spend a lot of time trying to figure out why your screw isn't catching.
I start out with 1 screw that is obviously longer than I need, and screw 1 side up just a few threads. Don't hold the tv up there and try to line it up with your holes. If your gonna put a screw in the left side in first, sit on the right side of the vehicle and guide your screw into the hole. Much easier than trying to look up through the mounting holes of the tv and line it up. At this point the tv will hold itself up and you can give your hands and head a rest as holding the tv is awkward and tiring after a while. (Which reminds me of another tip using your head to hold the tv up against the roof to adjust yourself or pick up the screw that you dropped for the 5th time..)
NOW you can push the tv up against and see how your other holes are lining up. Just remember to take out the first longer screw and put something shorter in later. For all of this use a hand screwdriver and not a drill. As mentioned over and over there isn't a whole lot of room between the headliner and the roof or the beam and the roof.
And to answer your other questions there is not a double layer of sheet metal above the headliner..There is the headliner, and the roof itself. Not a whole lot going on up there..
Also as mentioned by others dropping the headliner isn't necessary. We install a lot of the factory ford kits and they require that you drop the headliner in order to get their brackets in place..Not TOO hard just time consuming and you have to be very careful. For your normal universal tv I wouldn't even think about dropping the headliner..Oh well there's a bunch to read hope some of the tips can help you out. Take your time and use your head and you should be fine!
Here is 2 quick pics:
http://www.installz.com/installpics/tv1.jpg
First one gives you an idea of what I meant when I mentioned cutting the shroud to match the contour of the headliner. (Town & Country van)
http://www.installz.com/installpics/tv2.jpg
Pic 2 shows a tv mounted in a Town & Country van. You can see a factory push clip right near the tv which really helps give it support since it is just supported by the wood on the headliner method.
Good luck,
Mike
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