The Best Truck Bed Mattresses: Maximize Sleeping Space and Comfort

Truck Bed Mattress

We all know pickup trucks are great for hauling cargo and tailgating. But when you go camping with your pickup, the truck bed also makes a great space for sleeping. It’s easy to park so the bed is flat, and since it’s elevated, you don’t have to worry about tree roots, rocks, or crawling critters.

The only thing you need to get some quality shut-eye is a truck bed mattress. Get the best one and it will instantly give you a nice spot to get a great night of sleep so you can tackle your adventures well-rested.

If you want to get the best truck air mattress around, you can’t go wrong with the Pittman Outdoors AirBedz Truck Mattress that fits your truck. This article walks you through the top AirBedz models, plus the top options for other manufacturers that might fit your needs and budget better.

Are you ready for some new adventures while comfortably sleeping in the back of your pickup truck? Let’s do this.

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The Best Truck Bed Mattresses: Quick Run-Down

After carefully reviewing dozens of truck bed mattresses on the market, we created this table to help you find the best truck bed mattress that fits your truck. You can buy any of these models with confidence.

Best Overall for Short Bed TrucksPittman Outdoors Original AirBedz Truck Bed MattressHigh-quality mattress that fills out the entire truck bed and comes with a built-in battery-powered pump Mid-size trucks with a short bed (5’6” or less) such as Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger, & Chevy Colorado$$$$Check Price
Best Overall for Full-Size Trucks with Regular BedPittman Outdoors AirBedz Pro3 Truck Bed Air MattressUltra-comfortable and spacious truck air mattress with 12V pumpFull-size trucks with a regular/short bed (~5’ to 6’6”) such as Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado, Toyota Tundra, Ram $$$Check Price
Best Overall for Full-Size Trucks with Long BedPittman AirBedz CAMO Truck Bed Air MattressFull-length model to fill up the biggest truck beds with more sleeping spaceFull-size trucks with long 8’ bed such as Ford F-Series, Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra, Ram 2500/3500$$$$Check Price
Best Back Seat Mattress for Trucks or SUVsPittman AirBedz Rear Seat Air MattressCompact air mattress that fits inside your truck or SUVNearly any truck or SUV that’s at least 55” wide (60” option available)$$Check Price
Best Budget Truck Air MattressRightline Gear Truck Bed Air MattressHeavy-duty air mattresses carefully designed for truck useBoth mid-size and full-size options available$Check Price
Best Air & Foam Truck Camping MattressLOSTHORIZON Self-Inflating Truck MattressSturdy and comfortable mattress with a more robust designDouble width for full-size trucks or single width for mid-size$$Check Price
Best Budget Alternative for TrucksUmbrauto Truck Bed Air MattressAffordable model that lets you close the tailgate of regular bed trucksMarketed for full-size short bed, but fits many mid-size models with tailgate down$Check Price
The Rightline Gear truck bed air mattress in use

Best Brand: Pittman Outdoors AirBedz Truck Air Mattress

Necessity is the mother of invention. When James Pittman found himself using a regular air mattress to sleep in the back of his pickup truck, he took matters into his own hands. And the Pittman Outdoors AirBedz Truck Bed Mattress was created.

But Pittman wasn’t just going to create any truck air mattress. He set out to create the best, and I’m happy to say that he accomplished this mission. If you’re an outdoor enthusiast with a truck, you can’t go wrong with a Pittman AirBedz mattress.

The only thing to watch out for is buying the one that fits your truck the best. There are options for almost every model around, including Toyota Tacoma, Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra, and Ram pickups of all types and with all the bed length options.

Why Pittman Truck Mattresses Are Superior

Three things set Pittman Outdoors truck air mattresses apart from the crowd.

  1. They’re carefully cut to fit around the wheel wells and fill up the entire bed space. No more squishing a smaller air mattress in your truck bed or having the sides lifted up by the poor fit.
  2. The AirBedz truck bed air mattresses go OVER the wheel wells since they’re over 12” thick. You get a giant, flat space for sleeping without the wheel wells in the way. Other truck bed air mattresses just go around them, giving a serious advantage to the AirBedz design.
  3. Pittman Outdoors has created an extensive lineup of AirBedz mattresses to:
    • Carefully fit nearly any truck bed on the market, including mid-size and full-size trucks with short, regular, and long beds.
    • Provide an option to fit every budget.

It’s also nice that the company is based in the United States and stands behind its products. Every AirBedz mattress comes with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee and a solid one-year warranty.

AirBedz travel case for truck air mattresses

Getting the Most from an AirBedz Truck Bed Mattress

Despite being made from high-quality, durable materials meticulously designed for your truck, AirBedz products are still air mattresses. But if you follow a few expert tips, you’ll ensure your air mattress doesn’t let you down.

Every air mattress will stretch out after you first fill it up, which can make it seem like there is a small leak when there isn’t. To help your mattress stay firm all night, fill it up and let it sit for at least an hour before you go to sleep. Then add a little more air before settling in.

Even though AirBedz are made from a more durable material to help prevent issues, using a truck bed camping tent can also help protect your air mattress. The best truck bed tents come with a bathtub design that covers your entire bed with the tent floor.

Which Pittman Outdoor AirBedz Is Right for You?

At first glance, it can be tough to sort through the different AirBedz options because there are so many. They’re each specifically made for different classes of trucks (mid-size vs. full-size) and different truck bed lengths (five different choices altogether). 

The prices, pumps, and most importantly, sizes are all a little tricky. That’s why we’ve carefully reviewed the listings to help you make the right decision.

AirBedz mattress model for short bed trucks

Best AirBedz for Mid-Size Trucks with a Short Bed (Toyota Tacoma and Jeep Gladiator)

If you have a mid-size truck, such as a Toyota Tacoma, Jeep Gladiator, Chevy Colorado, or Ford Ranger, with a short bed, you’ll want to get the Original AirBedz Truck Bed Mattress PPI-105.

It also comes in a Camo print option with all the same great features. Nicely fits in with your other outdoor gear.

These are the only AirBedz that are the right width and length for these trucks, at 55 inches wide and up to 5’4” long (plus tailgate extension). The cutouts are placed farther forward to accommodate the wheel well placement as well, a vital design difference.

Plus, these models come with an extension to use over the tailgate. This gives you a full-length truck bed mattress that’s comfortable to sleep in by taking advantage of the extra space over the tailgate.

Pittman Outdoors hits the nail on the head for mid-size trucks with shorts beds, perfect for a Toyota Tacoma air mattress that won’t let you down. Even though other trucks with longer beds have other models to choose from, this model is hands-down the best all-around and there’s no reason to feel left out.

The Original AirBedz is superior because it features:

  • Built-in pump with a rechargeable battery
  • Recently re-engineered comfortable fabric
  • Characteristic AirBedz design that maximizes your entire truck bed area

Are you ready to tackle your next adventure with more comfort? Check the price for your Pittman Outdoors AirBedz for Mid-Size Trucks With Short Beds right away.

AirBedz regular truck bed air mattress

Best Truck Air Mattress for Full-Size Trucks With a Regular Bed (Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado, Ram 1500)

For full-size trucks with a regular bed, the Pittman Outdoors AirBedz Pro3 PPI 302 Truck Bed Air Mattress is our overall top pick as the best truck mattress for you. It fits popular models like the Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado, Ram 1500, and GMC Sierra with a regular-sized bed.

The only downfall is that the Pro3 isn’t available in camo print. If you want to rock that outdoor camo look, there is an Original AirBedz model that fits these trucks and it’s another excellent choice.

The width of both these models is 63.5” to fill out the entire space, and they both fit truck beds anywhere from 6’ to 6’8”.

The Pro3 AirBedz Truck Bed Air Mattress uses a comfortable fabric that’s nearly identical to the Original AirBedz model. And each one is carefully designed to fit around your truck bed area to provide maximum sleeping space.

Here’s why we think the Pro3 AirBedz is the best choice for these trucks:

  • 12V pump runs off of cigarette lighter or portable power station (like this Jackery)
  • Slightly lower price due to the lack of a rechargeable battery built-in pump
  • Same high-quality construction as the Original model with comfortable fabric surface

While we prefer this model because it saves you some cash, if you want the built-in pump that uses the rechargeable battery, the Original AirBedz might be worth it. It’s nearly identical except for the difference in how the pump is powered (12V cord vs. battery). The Original also comes in a camo print, which can be worth the price increase alone.

The full-size trucks with a regular bed can also use the more-affordable AirBedz Lite Truck Bed Air Mattress. This is still an impressive truck bed air mattress, but it’s made from a slightly-less comfortable material and isn’t all that much cheaper.

We think it’s worth the extra cost to get the higher-quality and more durable design used in both the Pro3 and Original AirBedz over the Lite version.

Camo AirBedz air mattress for full size trucks

Best Pittman Truck Mattress for Full-Size Trucks With a Long Bed

For any full-size truck with a full-size 8’ bed, the PPI-401 AirBedz CAMO Truck Bed Air Mattress model is a great choice. It’s a whopping 95″ long and is the best long bed truck air mattress around, filling up your entire cargo space.

We choose this model for these long trucks since it comes with a battery-powered built-in pump. That way you don’t have to worry about stretching a cord over the entire length of your truck.

It also happens to have the coolest camo print around, a licensed pattern from RealTree camouflage. But if you’d rather have the blue, you can get the PPI-101 Original Truck Bed Air Mattress instead.

Top features include:

  • Battery-powered built-in pump making inflating and deflating a breeze
  • Awesome camouflage design
  • Long enough to fill up the entire 8’ truck bed

If you would rather save a little money and don’t mind using the 12V pump with your cigarette lighter, then you can get the PPI-301 AirBedz Pro3 Truck Bed Air Mattress. It still has the high-quality fabric of the Original model but is cheaper since it doesn’t have the battery for the pump. It also doesn’t come in the camo print.

Check the price of the PPI-401 AirBedz CAMO Truck Bed Air Mattress right now so you can get prepared for your next trip.

AirBedz rear seat air mattress for trucks and SUVs

Best AirBedz Back Seat Air Mattress for Truck or SUV

The rear seat of many trucks and SUVs can be a great place to get some rest. It’s also perfect to give the kids a bed away from the truck bed area you’re sleeping in while avoiding the hassle of tents.

If that sounds like it meets your needs, the best back seat air mattress for trucks and SUVs is the AirBedz Rear Seat Air Mattress for Trucks and SUVs.

It’s made from a comfortable and durable 300D blended fabric. And it inflates in minutes with the included 12V pump that is powered by your cigarette lighter or portable power station.

But if you have a smaller mid-size vehicle or SUV, the AirBedz Pittman Outdoors Backseat Air Mattress is the right choice. It’s 55” wide and has a nice cutout to seamlessly fit over the rear floor of most vehicles. And it also comes with a 12V pump.

The larger model is more heavy-duty, but if you want to save some cash and don’t mind the smaller width (55” vs. 60”), then you can always get the smaller option and use it as a full-size truck back seat air mattress. It will leave a little bench space uncovered though. 

Rightline Gear truck bed mattress

Best Budget Alternative: Rightline Gear Truck Bed Air Mattress

The AirBedz models are undeniably impressive, but they’re not the only truck bed air mattress on the market. Rightline Gear also makes high-quality options that are designed for the back of your truck. And best of all, they’re more affordable.

There are two Rightline Gear models to choose from:

Each Rightline Gear Truck Bed Mattress is made from heavy-duty PVC and features a flocked top surface to provide a velvet-like layer for comfort. It’s the best of both worlds because the bottom and sides are weather-resistant and durable while the top is soft and breathable.

Rightline includes in a 12V pump that runs off of your cigarette lighter or portable power station. But you can also use a foot pump to blow it up if you don’t want to hassle with the 12V pump.

What’s Different About Rightline Gear Truck Mattresses?

Although these are designed as truck bed mattresses, Rightline Gear doesn’t cut them around the wheel wells. Instead, they fit between the wheel wells, which means:

  • You can store some gear on the truck bed space that isn’t covered by the mattress.
  • It simplifies the sizing and just two models fill the needs of every truck owner, providing a more cost-effective solution.

Even though the Rightline models don’t fill up every square inch of your pickup truck bed like the AirBedz models, they still provide a nice, large sleeping area that’s usually enough for two people. 

The mid-size version at 44” wide might be a little tight, so if that doesn’t work for you, go for the Original AirBedz Truck Bed Mattress PPI-105 instead.

Rightline Gear truck mattresses aren’t as thick as the AirBedz model either, only 7” compared to 12”. But since they don’t go over the wheel wells, it doesn’t make that big of a difference. It’s still enough to keep you off the truck bed.

This truck bed mattress stands out with an impressive 400-pound weight limit and more compact storage.

Rightline Gear storage space

Do Rightline Mattresses Fit Your Truck Well?

With only two options, you might be skeptical of the sizing for Rightline Truck Bed Mattresses. How can it possibly fit every truck bed?

It’s simple. One is made to fit between almost every mid-size truck’s wheel wells and the other for full-size trucks. The length doesn’t adjust for the bed length, it just hangs over the open tailgate if needed.

For example,  as long as the area between your wheel wells is 44”, the mid-size model should work perfectly. If you have a short bed, it extends farther over the tailgate.

The same is true for full-size trucks. The Rightline Gear Full-Size Truck Mattress is 51” wide, which should fit between the vast majority of full-size trucks on the market. 

In any case, the mattress is nearly guaranteed to fit your truck if you buy the right version.

Rightline Gear Company Information and Reviews

Established in 2009, Rightline Gear is located in Asheville, North Carolina. It fused the love for the great outdoors with all things automotive, bringing together two amazing American pastimes and helping people get outside to connect with the land around them.

As of 2001, Rightline Gear is part of Gathr Outdoors, which also owns top brands like GCI Outdoor, Klymit, and Cascadia Vehicle Tents (CVT). This powerful network of outdoor companies helps deliver high-quality products that also manage to be affordable.

Rightline Gear Truck Mattresses has over 1,000 reviews on Amazon and over 80% are four and five-star ratings. This is some of the best feedback we’ve seen on any truck air mattress.

Most of the negative reviews mention problems that seem to exist straight out of the box. We’ve seen the same feedback on nearly every model from any manufacturer, unfortunately. Making an air mattress is not a perfect process, so we strongly encourage you to buy it early and test it before heading out on your adventure!

Having said that, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any truck air mattress with this high of a level of customer ratings. And this is why I have no reservations about recommending the Rightline Gear products.

LOSTHORIZON truck mattress

Best Air & Foam Design: LOSTHORIZON Self-Inflating Truck Mattress

This truck camping mattress is one of my favorite models because it uses a slightly different design that increases comfort beyond that of a traditional air mattress. 

By infusing an air-filled foam into the mattress, the LOSTHORIZON Self-Inflating Truck Mattress is more supportive and feels just like a memory foam home mattress. It’s only 4.5” thick, much less than the AirBedz models, yet can support more than 440 pounds.

But it still packs down tight into a portable package that’s easy to bring with your camping gear

This option transforms any truck bed into a comfortable sleeping space, and it keeps things simple by sticking to a rectangular design, available in four sizes:

  1. Double (80” L x 52” W x 4.5” T)
  2. Single (80” L x 28” W x 4.5 T)
  3. Twin (75” L x 38” W x 4.5” T)
  4. Cot (75” L x 25” W x 4.5” T)

Why Is the LOSTHORIZON Mattress So Comfortable?

Air mattresses do a great job of getting you off the ground and away from roots, rocks, and everything else. But they fall short because they lack any internal structure or support.

That’s where the LOSTHORIZON truck mattress steps up big time. Infusing the entire mattress with an air-filled foam provides much more support throughout. Plus, it won’t transfer shifts to the other side of the mattress as an air mattress does.

By using foam, this truck bed mattress also has a 13 R-value insulation rating. This is a seriously great insulation rating way beyond most backpacking sleeping pads. It will help you forget about any bits of the cold truck bed.

If you want another way to stay warm, check out the Best Battery Powered Heaters for Camping.

LOSTHORIZON self-inflating truck bed mattress

Where Does This Foam & Air Truck Mattress Fall Short?

Unfortunately, the LOSTHORIZON mattress isn’t perfect. Its main downfall is that it doesn’t come in shapes designed to fit around the wheel wells.

But the Double size is a very good fit for full-size trucks like the Ford F-150, Toyota Tundra, and Chevy Silverado. At 52” wide, it fits between the wheel wells of most of these models.

If you have a smaller truck, the 38” wide Twin size is probably your best bet. But as you can tell from the name, it’s only designed for one person. So if you plan on sleeping with two in the back of your truck, I recommend going with a wider model, like the AirBedz for Mid-Size Trucks.

How Does the LOSTHORIZON Mattress Fill and Deflate?

Although it’s packed with foam, the LOSTHORIZON truck bed mattress still uses a valve that’s similar to most air mattresses. The difference is that when you open it, the foam expands and sucks the air in automatically until it lays flat and fully expands.

At that point, you can close the valve and use it in the naturally-filled state, or you can put pressure to make it softer or add air to make it firmer.

When you’re done, you open the two-way valve toward deflate, then carefully scrunch and roll up the mattress, squeezing the air out in the process. The harder you squeeze, the smaller the stored mattress will be.

Some feedback indicated that it was more difficult to deflate than they wanted and it left the mattress much larger than when they received it from the factory. So LOSTHORIZON created a small pump that can help inflate or deflate the mattress and ensures it packs down small.

Umbrauto mattress for short bed trucks

Best Budget Alternative for Trucks: Umbrauto Truck Bed Air Mattress

Umbrauto is another brand that caters to the truck camping crowd and makes a highly-reviewed truck bed air mattress. Overall, we like the construction of it and it can be great for those that want a relatively short option that fits inside your truck bed with the tailgate up.

But the measurements are a little strange. Most other brands try to maximize every inch of available truck bed space, but Umbrauto made this to fit within a full-size short bed with the tailgate up.

Umbrauto Mattresses Fit and Measurements

Although it says it’s specifically for full-size trucks with a short bed, such as the Ford F-150/250/350, Chevy Silverado, Toyota Tundra, GMC Sierra, Nissan Titan, and Ram Trucks, the overall dimensions seem to line up much better for mid-size trucks, such as the Ford Ranger, Chevy Colorado, Toyota Tacoma, and GMC Canyon.

This truck mattress is 66” long with 42” between the wheel wells and 60” maximum width.

Many full-size trucks are closer to 50” wide between the wheel wells, so this option will leave a lot of room. But mid-size trucks, like the Toyota Tacoma and Chevy Colorado, often have about 42” to 44” here, making it a near-perfect fit. And they typically have around 60” maximum width, perfectly fitting the Umbrauto mattress.

For length, 66” will typically fit inside any mid-size truck model with the tailgate down and it still won’t extend to the end of the tailgate. In fact, it’s still a little shorter than almost every other brand and will leave a LOT of room in a full-length 8’ bed.

Bottom line, we suggest carefully measuring your truck bed before ordering this model. If it fits and is the shape you want, perfect! If not, there are plenty on this list that do.

Multiple Colors, Oxford Fabric Top, and Affordable

What stands out about the Umbrauto Truck Mattress is that it is available in four different colors, including beige, gray, purple, and red. When you want to let the air mattress match the color of your truck, it’s difficult to find this with any other brand.

It’s also one of the more affordable models, yet it still comes with a 12V pump, patch repair kit, and a PVC construction topped with extra-thick Oxford fabric for comfort. Plus, it’s rated at a very impressive 600 pounds, much more than most other models.

The only downside is that it’s very difficult to find any brand or company information about Umbrauto. For that reason, it’s hard to recommend this model. We strongly prefer to find companies that exist outside of Amazon, but it was hard to find anything for Umbrauto.

Having said that, it’s still a truck bed air mattress with a lot of positive feedback and it meets a unique space by providing a smaller air mattress for trucks. It might be a good option if the size lines up with what you need.

Other Truck Bed Air Mattresses

We reviewed a lot of truck mattresses to find the best. In this section, we’ll provide some of the top runner-ups along with our reasoning for why we prefer other models.

YOMTOVM Inflatable Truck Bed Air Mattress

As another option that fits full-size short trucks that has an impressive 600-pound rating, it was tempting to put this YOMTOVM Inflatable Truck Bed Air Mattress on our list.

But the fact is that this has hardly any reviews, which makes it nearly impossible to say how reliable it will be or what the build quality is like.

Also, YOMTOVM seems to produce an incredibly wide variety of automotive equipment. We prefer to see manufacturers show specialization and expertise, like AirBedz models, but this brand falls short.

Sokiche Truck Bed Air Mattress

This truck mattress was another model that seemed to hit a lot of high points, but it’s only available in one size, which seems to be a little odd with a 44″ width between the wheel wells and 62″ overall width.

And once again, it’s built only for short bed full-size trucks. Since this category is already crowded, even though it’s likely not the ideal size because it’s only 5’6″ long, we don’t find reason to recommend this model.

The Sokiche Truck Bed Air Mattress also fails to have a lot of customer feedback, and besides this one air mattress, the brand also makes cat little box enclosures. Seems to be a very strange combination of offerings lacking a cohesive mission.

Aotiyer Truck Bed Air Mattress

Yet another brand that offers an air mattress for full-size models with a short bed, the Aotiyer Truck Bed Air Mattress looks to be decent at first glance.

It’s a similar 5’6″ long with 62″ width, and has a 12V pump. Best of all, it comes with two inflatable pillows so you don’t have to get the home ones dirty while truck camping.

But once again, it fails to have a lot of support with customer feedback that isn’t from providing a free product. We find it hard to trust promoted reviews, so at this time, it’s going to be a better bet to go with a better-known brand.

In the future, this model might shape up to be a good value. The brand mainly focuses on automotive upholstery covers, which is along the same lines as these truck mattresses. This could be a good synergy.

12V air mattress pump for trucks

What To Look For in a Truck Bed Air Mattress?

Before you drop some cash on what can be a surprisingly expensive air mattress, there are some things you’ll want to keep in mind:

  1. Get the right size and weight limit
  2. Understand how it inflates and deflates
  3. Extra precautions to help get the most out of it

1. Truck Bed Mattress Sizing

With all of the different shapes and sizes of trucks on the road, how can you be sure that the truck mattress will fit the one in your garage or driveway? Thankfully, the best brands, like Pittman Outdoors AirBedz and Rightline Gear, do the heavy lifting for you.

Most truck bed air mattresses are separated into two classes just like trucks: mid-size and full-size. Mid-size options include the Toyota Tacoma, Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, and Jeep Gladiator, while full-size trucks include the Ford F-150 (and 250/350), Chevy Silverado (1500, 2500, and 3500), GMC Sierra, and Ram trucks.

When it comes to the truck bed difference, the width is the biggest difference between full-size and mid-size models. Most mid-size ones have around 42” to 44” between the wheel wells and around 52” total bed width. Meanwhile the full-size trucks typically have over 50” between the wheel wells and over 60” total width.

Once you get the width correct, the length usually doesn’t matter too much. Most mattresses are made to be at least 74” (6’2”) long, which is typically plenty enough to get some rest. And that will fit in nearly any truck bed, as long as the tailgate is down.

However, there are exceptions. If you’re very tall and want to get a massive air mattress to fill up every inch of your 8’ long bed, then you can get the AirBedz Original PPI-401 for Full-Size Trucks with a Long Bed. It’s 95” long. 

On the other hand, if you want a mattress that will fit in your short bed truck with the tailgate up, the Umbrauto Truck Mattress for Camping is the best option. It’s only 66” long, however, so it might be a little small if you’re taller than 5’4”. It is wide though, which means it’s designed for full-size trucks.

After scouring many truck mattresses and seeing some inconsistencies, I suggest you always manually verify the measurements of the mattress line up with your truck bed to avoid surprises.

2. Truck Air Mattress Pumps and Inflation

The majority of the truck air mattresses work exactly like your home models with a simple valve that you connect a pump to. The main difference is in how the pump is powered.

There’s nothing wrong with a manual pump and they’re a fail-safe way to ensure you can always inflate your air mattress without electricity. They make amazing foot pump models that can quickly and easily inflate your mattress. 

But most truck mattresses come with an electric pump that usually runs off the 12V outlet inside your vehicle, commonly called the cigarette lighter since they used to come with a little device that could light a cigarette (and burn your fingers).

The best models take things up a notch by building the air pump into the mattress. And some of them, like our favorite truck camping mattress, use a rechargeable battery.

All of these electric options are usually fine, but if you don’t want to rely on your car battery or the rechargeable battery, you can always get a portable power station. Mix this with a small solar panel, and you can always have a little electricity to pump up your mattress, charge your phone, and power small lights, speakers, and more.

Jackery is one of the world’s most trusted brands for power stations, and they have many models at a reasonable price along with solar panels.

If you don’t want to fuss with blowing up a mattress, you can get the LOSTHORIZON self-inflating model that infuses a foam mattress within. It automatically sucks air in until it’s fully inflated.

A great campsite in central Colorado

3. Getting The Most Out of Your Truck Mattress

Air mattresses aren’t extremely complicated devices, but there are a few quick tips that can make a major difference in how your experience goes.

A) Blow Up Early and Top It Off Before Sleeping

First, every air mattress will stretch out once it’s blown up. It happens the most during the first use, but it will continue every time you use it. If you don’t know how to handle this, it can mean waking up in the middle of the night on a deflated mattress.

To fix this, blow it up at least one hour before going to sleep, then fill it up one last time right before you go to sleep. It can help if you lay on it before the final air fill, or put something heavy on it.

B) Dealing With Disappointment

Another downfall of air mattresses is that they’re prone to leaking due to punctures. While it can be annoying at home, it’s much worse when you’re camping with your truck in the middle of nowhere.

Just like you wouldn’t let a flat tire let you stop adventures, neither should a popped air mattress. Learn how to repair an air mattress hole.

Always make sure to bring a patch kit. Most brands include one with an air mattress, so don’t forget it. And if you use it, replace it before your next outing. 

I recommend always having some tenacious tape around while camping. It can repair camping gear of all sorts, including tents, jackets, and of course, air mattresses with a factory-like seal.

Before using any patch, make sure to thoroughly clean and dry the area, then let it fully cure before reinflating. Keeping air inside a mattress with a lot of weight on top is not an easy task and one tiny unsealed spot can spell trouble.

C) Using a Truck Camping Tent

Throwing an air mattress in the back of your pickup works in areas with perfect weather and no bugs. But when you need a little protection from the elements, using a truck bed tent is a great solution.

It also helps protect your air mattress by placing a layer of tent floor material under the air mattress. Any imperfection in your truck bed won’t immediately poke through the air mattress.

The Napier Backroadz Truck Tent is our favorite option, providing a big bang for your buck with a feature-packed tent that fits in your truck.

You can read more about these models in our comprehensive Truck Bed Camping post.

AirBedz camping truck mattress with tailgate extension

Frequently Asked Questions About Truck Bed Mattresses

What size air mattress fits in a truck bed?

To get the size air mattress to fit your truck bed, go with one specifically made for your truck, such as mid-size or full-size and with the right bed length. To use a regular home air mattress, the full-size bed will fit in most full-size trucks, but not in most mid-size trucks because its 54″ width is too wide for the inside of the wheel wells.

King and queen bed sizes won’t fit even in the biggest trucks due to the wheel wells. A twin-sized mattress will fit in nearly any truck, but as you know, will only sleep one person comfortably.

Do air mattresses need a pump?

Yes, most air mattresses need a pump. Not only do they require a lot of air, you also probably can’t blow them up to sufficient pressure with your lungs alone. You can get a manual foot pump or an electric pump to make things easy. There are 12V models that can run off your car’s cigarette lighter when you’re ready to go camping.

How much weight can an air bed hold?

The weight capacities differ between air bed models. Some can only hold around 200 pounds, but many can hold around 300 to 400 pounds. The best models, often made using a foam and air combination, can hold more than 400 pounds, all the way up to 600 pounds.

What are the disadvantages of an air mattress?

The downsides to air mattresses are that they can pop, slowly leak air, and weight transfers very easily across one. To get around these, blow them up at least an hour before you go to bed and top it off with more air, always keep a patch kit handy, and you can buy a model with a foam interior that’s more stable if you don’t want to wake your sleeping partner.

What happens if you put too much weight on an air mattress?

If you put too much weight on an air mattress over its capacity, the seams probably won’t hold up and the mattress will pop or deflate. If you only go over the specification weight by a little bit and you’re careful when entering and exiting the bed, you might get away without popping it, but it’s much better to find a mattress that fits your needs. Or get two separate air mattresses.

Campfire in Colorado

Wrap-Up: The Best Truck Bed Mattresses

When you’re ready to load up your gear and head into the wilderness, adding one of the best truck bed mattresses can transform your entire experience.

The Pittman Outdoors AirBedz Pro3 Truck Mattress is the best option on the market, carefully tailored to fit almost any truck, including mid-size and full-size with any length bed. But if you want the awesome camo print version, go with the AirBedz Original Truck Air Mattress.

For those that want a more robust and stable mattress, the LOSTHORIZON Mattress uses foam and air to enhance comfort and durability. Or to save a few bucks, go with the Rightline Gear Air Mattress, which uses a rectangular shape to save some design costs.

No matter which you choose, you’re certain to live it up in comfort from the back of your truck. The flat, elevated surface is miles ahead of the ground, and the only thing you might want is a truck bed tent camper to go along with it.

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