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rfloyd99's avatar
rfloyd99
Explorer
Jun 18, 2019

Murphy Bed Mattress question

Our TT has a Murphy Bed, and it's time to replace the cheap mattress Jayco provided. Since it's a short queen the options are limited.

The reason this isn't a simple job is that the best alternatives are foam. I worry that when the mattress is vertical and bouncing down the road it will not be rigid enough to resist collapsing down to the bottom of the space between the bed base and the wall of the trailer. Yes, there is plenty of space between the bed and the wall for that to happen. Anyone with a murphy bed will understand.

Anyone have experience or ideas?

Thanks!
  • I don’t drive with the Murphy bed “up” for that very reason.
  • My Jayco Murphy bed has straps that hold it vertical, and hasn't been a problem. Don't you think it will maintain erection position being hugged by the tlr front cap and the bed bottom?
  • Does your current mattress sag to the bottom? It is probably foam.
  • OP here. I don't know what my current mattress is - it has a pillow top and most foam mattresses do not. It doesn't sag, though.

    I never used the straps on mine, didn't seem to need them. They would probably help keep a foam mattress in place. Foam mattresses are really heavy, though. About 75 lbs. for a 10" and 55 for an 8" for the ones I have found. And that's in the short queen size.

    Also, my front wall slopes, and has lots of space between the surface of the mattress and the wall. My mattress is 7" thick, and there are 6-7" of space at the top and about 15" at the bottom, so there is no sandwich effect, but plenty of room for a thicker mattress.

    Last thing, I emailed a foam mattress maker that sells an 8" short queen about this issue; they do not recommend any of their products to be used on a murphy bed, RV or otherwise!

    So, I don't know what I'm going to do, but this might be of interest to others with murphy bed RVs.

    We're about to spend four months in the RV, and that bed sucks! Anybody else have any ideas?
  • Our Murphy bed mattress was/is horrible but we added an 1-1/2 inch foam topper and solved the problem pretty well. The construction of our trailer/Murphy bed would not allow any more thickness and still fold up and down correctly. We find the straps are necessary to hold the mattress and topper from sliding down while folded away. Even with the straps they slide a little while traveling and can be a PITA trying to pull the mattress back to the foot of the bed while it is in the air over your head.

    Perhaps a custom mattress construction shop could be of some help??