How do I safely transport a queen sized mattress without a moving/delivery company?

May 26, 2006 9:31 AM

Is it possible to fit a queen-sized mattress and boxspring in a full-sized pickup truck?

Additional details:
- I'm renting the truck.
- I'll be driving it for ~200 miles on interstate highways.
- There might be one other item in the truck (a rocking chair) but that's it.

Please offer personal experiences, solutions, other vehicle suggestions and/or warnings.

posted by 10ch to travel & transportation (10 comments total)

Use lots of rope.
posted by box at 9:38 AM on May 26, 2006

yes. especially if you have a lumber rack. But even without it, you can do it with a tarp and a lot of rope.
posted by small_ruminant at 9:45 AM on May 26, 2006

Put the mattress on top, since its heavier. Boxsprings can develop interesting aerodynamic properties at highway speeds. (A friend discovered this, I swear)
posted by kableh at 9:45 AM on May 26, 2006

It is better to stand the mattress and box spring up on their long side, parallel to the bed rails. The air flow over and around the truck can't get under/over the bed parts to create lift. Ideally, the forces on either side are overcome by each other and the force over the top is overcome by lots of rope. Ideally.

(Had a truck, moved everybody I knew, this always worked for me. And rope is very cheap and effective.)
posted by kuujjuarapik at 10:12 AM on May 26, 2006

A friend moved my queen-sized bed and boxspring in his truck. It was scary but it worked, however, we were only had to drive for 35 miles on the highway. The trick is, as others have said, to use an obscene amount of rope (we didn't have enough rope for this to not be scary) and experiment to find out which position the mattress would be most secure in.
posted by mustcatchmooseandsquirrel at 10:46 AM on May 26, 2006

Actually, kableh, I might argue the reverse: put the boxspring on top, as it is significantly more rigid. You don't want lift on your mattress peeling the nose up and tossing it off. Sandwich the floppy mattress between the bed and the boxspring.

And then yeah, tie the crap out of it. Tie it up until it looks good, and then double. If for nothing else than peace of mind as you are driving along.
posted by misterbrandt at 11:49 AM on May 26, 2006

invest 15 bucks in a tarp to keep everything dry. ~200 miles is a long way if you stuff is getting rained on!

as for the boxspring, matress issue, I suggest, on edge with the boxspring next to the fender and the mattress pushed against the boxspring by other heavy items.

When you tie things down, keep in mind that items may shift, and line may stretch. combining bungies and nylon cord provides good results in my experience.
posted by Megafly at 12:07 PM on May 26, 2006

I've moved my queen in a Tacoma a lot. I usually put the box spring down first, then the matress, then criss-cross with ratcheting tie-downs (home depot has a set of 4, they are very handy, easier to use than rope, and in some cases, stronger). I usually lay them in the truck bed, with one edge resting on the bottom of the bed, and the other edge resting on the rails of the truck bed. This gives a small triangle underneath to slide long things like the metal frame, etc. Maybe throw a tarp on top before the tie-downs.

Not sure how well this works with the chair, tho...and standing a queen on edge in the bed always looked too scary to try, even in-city moves.
posted by toomanyplugs at 12:35 PM on May 26, 2006

I am not a professional mover (but my dad was):

Put the box spring on its side on one side of the truck, the mattress on its side on the other, then put your other goodies in the middle of the truck. Run at least two straps from one side of the truck to the other, over the top of the mattress.

Keep in mind:

1. Don't cover up your rear view mirror (i.e., load anthing too high in the center of the truck)

2. Balance the load in the back of the truck.

3. Cover everything (except the mattresses) with a tarp.

4. Make sure everything is extremely secure, because shit will go everywhere once you get on the freeway. This means that you should err on the side of packing more, and larger things into the back of the truck, rather than keeping it empty, since the tighter you pack it, the less those mattresses will be able to move.
posted by Hildago at 1:10 PM on May 26, 2006

Use the Forearm Forklift... or something akin to that.
posted by freakystyley at 6:13 PM on May 26, 2006