The 6 Best Truck Bed Mattresses for Camping Adventures

If you have a truck and enjoy truck bed camping, simply outfitting it with a truck bed mattress is the cheapest and easiest way to create a comfortable bed you can take on the road.

The trouble is you can’t just pop any old mattress into the bed of your truck. You’ll need to choose the right size truck bed mattress if you really want to enjoy a better night’s sleep in the back of your truck.

The Best Truck Bed Mattresses Per Category:

• Best Overall: Hest Dually Mattress
• Our Favorite: Luno Life Truck Bed Mattress
• Best Budget-Friendly Option: Exped DeepSleep Sleeping Pad

The 6 Best Mattresses for a Truck Bed

Best Truck Bed Mattresses for a Good Night’s Sleep

Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty and highlight the best truck bed mattress options for your pickup truck.

The Hest Dually is a bi-fold mattress with two layers of high-performance polyfoams (the same kind found in many home mattresses). The top layer is breathable open-cell foam that helps keep you cool when camping in hot climates, and it also conforms to your body’s shape while providing support for your pressure points.

The bottom layer is resilient foam to provide additional support and durability for truck beds. Depending on your size choice, it packs up to dimensions of 78 x 25 x 7.8 inches or 72 x 30 x 7.8 inches.

When unfolded, the halves align so you’ll hardly notice the central crack, and there’s no chance of “falling in” throughout the night. Although it should stay dry in your truck bed, the bottom does boast a layer of polyurethane-coated nylon for moisture protection.

The Dually mattress also comes with a washable cover, which is a rare find among puncture-resistant truck mattresses. So you can remove and wash the cover at the laundromat without worrying about annoying wiping it down and leaving it out to dry for several hours.

The Luno Life mattress will fit 2nd and 3rd generation, long bed Toyota Tacoma models from 2005 to 2022. Check compatibility on Luno’s website before purchasing this truck bed air mattress.

If you are a Tacoma owner, this air mattress has plenty of space to fit two people comfortably (if you’re 6′ tall or shorter). It’s also a pet-friendly mattress with a durable structure that fits into the entire truck bed of your Tacoma.

With it, you’ll have the flexibility to inflate both sides for a full-size mattress or a single side if you only need sleeping space for one person. That dual inflation also allows you to adjust the firmness on the two sides to each person’s liking.

Plus, it comes with a rechargeable battery air pump to make inflation quick and painless. You can spend time fetching your sleeping bag, camping pillow, and other sleep gear while this truck bed air mattress automatically inflates quickly to fill your entire truck bed.

The Exped DeepSleep Mat is one of the best air mattresses for cold-weather camping. It boasts an R-value of 9.0, providing extra insulation against the cold temperatures of the ground or your truck bed.

For reference, most inflatable sleeping pads have an R-value between 1.0 and 5.5.

The top of the Exped mat is finished with soft fabric that makes it more comfortable against your skin if you’re sleeping right on it. The three-inch thickness is reinforced with polyurethane foam that’s designed to provide support and extra comfort.

It also boasts separate valves for inflation and deflation, and the inflation valve is made with a backflow prevention device so you don’t lose air if your inflation hose accidentally detaches.

When deflated, the DeepSleep mat packs down to dimensions measuring 11 x 22 inches or 12 x 27.5 inches, depending on your size choice. Plus, it comes with a lightweight stuff sack to protect it between uses.

The Exped MegaMat Auto Sleeping Pad is designed specifically for vehicle camping, making it an excellent choice for sleeping in a truck bed. Unlike standard rectangular sleeping pads, its contoured shape works better around wheel wells and tight vehicle spaces. At 4 inches thick, it offers a true mattress-like feel that’s hard to beat when comfort is a priority.

This pad uses a self-inflating foam core that provides excellent support and insulation. With a high R-value, it performs well in cold weather and helps block chill from the truck bed below. The foam interior also keeps the pad stable, so you don’t get the bounce or shifting that’s common with air-only mattresses. Side sleepers, in particular, will appreciate the pressure relief and even support.

The tradeoff is size and cost. The MegaMat Auto is heavy and bulky compared to inflatable options, and it takes up more storage space when packed. It’s also a premium-priced option. That said, if you want one of the most comfortable truck bed sleeping setups available and don’t mind sacrificing a little space, this pad delivers outstanding sleep quality for car and truck camping.

If you want a slightly shorter version or one that leans more comparison-focused for SEO, I’m happy to tweak it.

The Exped Megamat duo is another excellent option if you need a truck bed mattress for cold-weather camping. In addition to having an R-value of 8.1, it’s designed with 3D construction that provides a fully level sleeping area for maximum comfort.

It should fit well in most long-bed trucks and is designed to retain its air for multiple nights. The good news is that the low-profile FlatValves provide easy inflation when needed and there are two of them, so ensure you set it up so that at least one is accessible once it’s in the bed of your truck.

The MegaMat is built with open-cell polyurethane foam that provides comfort and insulation, but Exped also cored horizontal channels through the foam inside the air mattress to reduce its overall weight.

Unlike some lower-quality air mattresses that struggle to retain air throughout the night, this mattress is constructed with high-frequency welded seams for an airtight seal. Plus, it comes with a mini pump, a repair kit, and a height-adjustable, roll-top stuff sack for compact and easy storage.

For a truck bed mattress to fit any sized truck, AirBedz should be your go-to choice. Their original AirBedz is the ultimate mattress for truck camping because it can perfectly stretch the entire width of your truck bed, fitting around the wheel wells and all.

It boasts an integrated air coil system that evenly distributes your weight over the entire surface of a 12-inch thick mattress. Yes, you read that correctly, it’s thicker than some mattresses for your home bed.

The benefit is a sleeping area that truly matches the exact dimensions of your truck bed. There are five different air mattresses for mid-size and full-sized trucks with both standard and short bed layouts.

It also comes with a built-in rechargeable air pump that makes for easy inflation and deflation of this truck bed air mattress. The inserts for the wheel wells also allow you to transfer these air mattresses for in-home use, making them similar to full-size mattresses.

The extra thickness of this truck mattress may make things a little tricky if your truck is equipped with a camper shell. So you might consider a truck tent for enjoying this comfortable truck bed-size mattress.

Which Mattresses Fit in a Truck Bed?

The short answer is any mattress that’s smaller than the dimensions of your truck bed. But the kicker is that you must account for your wheel wells, which cost you 6-8 inches of bed width, on average.

So, your measurements should be the width between the wheel wells and the total length. Keeping it positive, this leaves those little areas in front and back of the wheel wells for gear storage.

For instance, those closest to your head can be perfect for a portable power station so you can keep your phone charged overnight. And those closest to your feet are great for your shoes so they aren’t left out in the cold (or rain) overnight.

What Materials are Best for a Truck Bed Mattress?

Air mattresses are great for camping in the bed of your truck because they deflate and store in a compact package when you aren’t using them. But not all air mattresses are created equal, and the worst are the ones that slowly leak air throughout the night, leaving you sleeping with a thin layer between you and your truck bed when morning rolls around.

A foam mattress can be a good alternative if you have the space for a permanent truck bed camping setup because a foam mattress provides support and insulation. If you do need to pack it up to have room for gear while you’re traveling, you can look into a folding mattress for your truck.

And if you do opt for a foam mattress, you’ll have the option of choosing cheap foam or memory foam. Unless you’re really on a tight budget, a memory foam mattress is going to give you a more comfortable bed than most others.

That’s really the simplest way we can put it: air versus foam…and if you do choose a foam mattress, it’s cheap foam versus memory foam.

How to Choose a Truck Bed Mattress

Here are some of the most important truck bed mattress features and specifications to consider:

Style

You’ll mainly have the choices of inflatable air mattresses and folding foam mattresses for truck beds. Let’s talk quick pros and cons for each type:

Inflatable Air Mattress

Pros: compact storage, easy setup, can be used for other camping purposes.

Cons: the possibility of deflation, slippery for your sleeping bag if not camping on level surfaces, more susceptible to tears and punctures.

Folding Foam Mattress

Pros: no potential for deflation, puncture-resistant mattress, can be thicker for added comfort, can be deployed without a hand pump or rechargeable battery air pump.

Cons: bulky when stored, limit your overall truck bed storage area.

Thickness

There’s merit to the idea that thicker is better when shopping for a truck mattress. A truck bed air mattress will generally be thinner than a folding foam mattress, but not always. Check the thickness to ensure you have enough padding to make your choice a comfortable bed.

But on the flip side, a mattress that’s too thick will limit your head space if you put a camper shell on your truck. In this case, measure from your truck bed to the roof of your camper shell and then subtract mattress thickness to check on the amount of headroom you’ll have to sit up or roll over in the middle of the night.

Versatility

If you’re camping in your truck, odds are you need to use the bed for storage and sleeping. That’s why it’s nice to have a truck bed air mattress that inflates quickly, but can be deflated and stored in a compact space when it’s not needed.

Unless you can pare your camping gear down to what can fit in the back of your truck or in a roof-mounted storage rack, a versatile truck bed air mattress is the way to go. But if you’re setting up a permanent bed in your truck, I’d opt for a tri-fold memory foam mattress or something a bit thicker.

Accessories

Don’t forget to look at the additional accessories that come with the mattress you’re interested in. Accessories like a pump, wheel well inserts, storage case, repair kit, and others will significantly impact the quality of your sleep and your experience using an air mattress after your purchase.

If I were making a purchase, the pump would be one of the top accessories I’d look for, as you’ll spend way too much of your own breath trying to inflate an air mattress without a pump.

Of course, you only need a pump if you choose an inflatable truck mattress. If that’s not the case, the top accessories I’d look for are a storage case and a washable cover that make it easier to remove and throw in the laundry machine instead of awkwardly wiping down or hosing off an air mattress.

Conclusion on the Best Truck Bed Mattress

Your truck camping mattress should be so much better than sleeping in an empty truck bed or on the ground. But unless you have a truck topper, you might need to purchase a truck tent to keep it safe and protected from the elements overnight.