new owner and have a mattress question

[don 61]

Hello we are new to camping and are in our early 60's we are finding our mattress uncomfortable we bought a 2024 salem has anyone bought and used a topper if so what kind memory or gel or bamboo?

[Backcountryboondocker]

We have a full size queen bed in our trailer. A queen bed which had a horrible mattress. (They all have a horrible mattress). My wife tried adding a memory foam topper we had as extra to soften it up a little bit. Then another topper… Then a fitted memory foam topper to go along with the other two. Next thing the mattress was a foot thick. Lol.

My suggestion (which I ended up doing after a couple of months) is don’t even try to add a topper, and just spring for a new and better mattress to start off with. I got lucky when I bought ours, we got a Zinus Spa Sensations Serenity memory foam mattress for $150 off at Walmart, and it’s been the best thing we did.

[Oaklevel]

Over the years and several camper we have used some type of foam topper.

X2 on if it is possible buy a better mattress in the first place, although we have always used the mattress that came with the camper over our 40 years of camping.

[Wiscampsin]

We've had 6 pull behinds and a MH and have always added a foam topper to our mattresses. Just like mattresses foam toppers have different quality levels. We spring (no pun intended) for a better quality one and have slept comfortably. One thing to consider is the thicker the mattress and topper are the deeper flat sheep you'll need.

[jlankford]

We replaced the entire mattress instead of wasting time & money with a topper (the underlying OEM mattress would have made a topper marginal at best). We've been very happy with this 8" foam mattress ordered on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JNTLFBD...t_details&th=1

[Bill and Gail]

Welcome from New Jersey! Congratulations on your new rig. If you buy a new mattress be sure it's the right size. Some rigs have normal size mattresses and others have short queen or short kings. For the short matresses, some people who bought regular size, have cut the toppers or memory foam mattresses to size using electric knives or bread knives. You can find short mattresses on Amazon and I believe on Walmart. I personally would not buy one I had to cut, I would worry about cutting it wrong.

[fipntdot]

This topic comes up fairly often. We added a memory foam topper to our queen mattress. If we go much heavier it will be hard to raise the bed to access the storage underneath.

[DogMan635]

don 61

Welcome to Forest River Forums!

This is the introduction page you may want to tell us a bit more about yourselves and your Recreational Vehicle -RV, by clicking on the second smaller MENU on USER CP and add as much information as you would like to share.
I'm sure others have already started answering your question don 61. As you will soon learn, this group is full of RV Experts. So,, ask any questions you would like.

[Mike134]

X2!! on the suggestion for an entire new mattress. Like a post above mentioned get a mattress in a box. We bought the 8" from amazon.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[glen1971]

We replaced the mattress in our previous trailer with one from a local furniture store, that was having a sale on RV mattresses. When we bought our current trailer and traded in our previous one, we told the dealer we are swapping mattresses. The dealer said no problem, since they could put the brand new mattress in our trailer and sell it.

[DJ252]

We went the topper route and so far its fine.

But a thick one and a good one. Don't recall the name but its near 4" thick and something over $100 but probably less than $200.

One thing that had me wanting to try that first, is seeing some with mold under their mattresses. The factory mattress that came with our camper, is made of very porous, spun plastic fibers. Lots of airflow through that. Not dissimilar to the bed mats, used to increase air flow and keep mold from growing there in the first place.

Figured trying the topper, was better than springing for a new mattress and a bed mat.

[K_M_H]

We ended up buying a replacement for our mattress from GhostBed. They make a Short Queen for RVs.

I can't guarantee it'll actually arrive - we tried to get a second one and it didn't get delivered.

[Aussieguy]

Our topper bought from camping world is JUST ok

last trip wife started complaining again
so looks like we'll be going to a 8" replacement.

save yourself some hassle and get a good thick mattress

OR go to foam supply store that can cut foam to size
get for harder STIFF foam to put UNDER the existing mattress
we keep feeling the wood under the mattress that makes it uncomfortable

[Willhound]

Our first camper we bought a 3 inch bamboo topper from Amazon and it was just ok. When we traded up to our Cherokee 39RL we tossed the brand new Serta RV mattress that came with it in favour of a 10 inch memory foam mattress again from Amazon. Under $200 CDN and worth every penny. More comfortable than our fancy orthopedic mattress at home that cost over a grand. One thing we did notice is that the bamboo toppers get hot and trapped moisture, at least ours did.

[Moho81]

I have always had back issues and now my wife is starting with some back issues. Our last camper we tried just a foam topper and it honestly was no better aches and pain wise. Our new trailer we purchased a 10" Zinus memory foam RV short queen mattress and I sleep better on that than I do our king bed at home.

[aceinspp]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your purchase of a 2024 salem. You should direct your questions concerning your camper under the sub forum f
Fifth wheel/Travel trails under the thread Salem. The welcome mat is for introducing ones self. Later RJD

[NJKris]

We had a decent memory foam topper from Sam's club bought a long time ago we robbed from one of the guest bedrooms that we use. Huge improvement. Can't accommodate a full memory foam mattress, too much weight. We have a small trailer without a whole lot of payload, so we are careful how much additional weight we put onboard. You'd be amazed how much it all adds up.
.

[D W]

In my opinion, putting a topper on a standard RV mattress is like putting lipstick on a pig. You can get a nice cool-gel memory foam mattress for a decent price, and your back will thank you.

[NJKris]

Originally Posted by D W

In my opinion, putting a topper on a standard RV mattress is like putting lipstick on a pig. You can get a nice cool-gel memory foam mattress for a decent price, and your back will thank you.

I would love to have one on the road, we love our Tempurpedic at home. But they are HEAVY. Like 60-160lbs depending on size. The OEM mattress weighs about ....the same as two rolls of paper towels, lol. And FEELS like you are laying on two rolls of paper towels without at least a topper! I have less than 700 lbs of payload capacity in camper, and I'm sure every bit of that is used.

[jlankford]

FWIW, the 8" foam mattress we bought on Amazon is NOT terribly heavy. It's at most twice the weight of the OEM mattress. We can still fold up the murphy bed with this mattress without trouble. And it makes the fold just fine - I thought I would have to cut/score the back of the mattress somehow to use the murphy bed, but I did not. The mattress is 6" of high-density foam (i.e lightweight foam rubber) and a 2" layer of memory foam on top.