Dmaxdmax

I have get my college daughter’s bedroom from apartment A to apartment B, just 5 minutes away. All of her stuff will fit in the hatch (probably 2 trips) but not the full size mattress and box spring (no bed). If it was 25 miles I’d rent a truck but for two miles I wonder if I have to. Is there a reasonable way to safely tie this to the roof without damaging the paint?
thanks

RX in NC

If you opt to do a mattress-on-the-roof haul, put down plenty of padding first. Old blankets, quilts, foam, beach towels, etc. Layer it for maximum protection, then tie on your load. I would haul the mattress and the box spring using separate trips just to keep the weight of the load down.

Situations like this are why I keep my trusty 1999 Ram around. It only does 400 to 500 miles per year now but when I need a truck, I need a truck....

sqlboy2000

iTrader: (1)

And for goodness sakes don't hold it down with your arm like the other idiots I see lol.
Best of luck!

Dmaxdmax

The only way to do this is with a friend shooting video to commemorate your idiocy.

Dmaxdmax

I kept a decrepit 2002 Odyssey for this very reason until I couldn’t fix an axle with duck tape. It was my Christmas tree hauler.

ellocovg

iTrader: (1)

I’m questing you have roof racks but no cross bars? I would but the box spring first top stiff part facing the roof, and then the soft mattress on top. The box spring should be wider than the roof rails and stiff enough to perch it on top of the rails without pushing down on your roof. Buy two real ratchet straps not cheap bungee cords, or twine. Strap one all the way in the front one and one all the way in the back looping underneath the roof rails. As long as you ratchet it down snugly with real ratchet straps it won’t go anywhere. If your going highway speeds you might need to secure the mattress longways so it won’t try to fold over. This is the advantage of still having elevated roof rails instead of the flush decorative rails cars get now a days. I can’t stress enough to use real straps though, it’s amazing the amount of ppl you see strapping stuff on top of cars with cheap twine that can’t tie a knot, or at least tighten the twine and then driving off.

Clutchless

I hauled a queen size foam mattress and the next day the box spring on the Roof of my RX for about 25 miles. It was a craigslist deal, after I bought the mattress (new in the wrapper) he contacted me and said I could have the box spring for free.
However, I have real straps for hauling my kayaks. Even so, I had to pull over a couple of times to check and readjust things. It was not a fun drive.
You can easily haul that on your roof for 2 miles, but as said above, you need some proper straps to tightly attach it to the vehicle. Wal-Mart has such straps in their automotive-tow hitch department.

Dmaxdmax

As it’s my wife’s car I have to be double-careful — The rails (not crossbars) are sturdy, not decorative?

Clutchless

The rails are sturdy. You can run your straps around them!
It helps to run a strap to the front and attach to a tow mount under the bumper or somewhere else under there to keep the front from lifting while driving. However if you are only going 2 miles, I hope it is low speed travel which makes it much easier. I was on a 50 mph parkway most of the trip. I kept it a bit under or at the speed limit.

Dmaxdmax

The limit is probably 30 and I'm not above annoying everybody behind me for a minute if need be!

Thanks

ellocovg

iTrader: (1)

My electrical work van is a 2019 Ford Transit cargo van. I got the $5,000 roof rack with the fold down crank arms. I put serious weight on those things including a 30’ extension ladder on the one side. I installed the rack myself and on the roof there are 8 tape covered holes which reveal 3/8” threaded holes in the roof rail. Four L brackets brackets are bolted to the van using 3/8 hardware which is respectable. On top of that lays the frame for the heavy rack which is bolted to the L brackets using 8 little baby 1/4 20 bolts! When you see the Transit vans with 20 ladders on top remember what’s holding that in place is just little baby 1/4 20 bolts!!!! Your mattress will be fine. Now all suvs use cosmetic roof rails which are flush to the vehicle which you can fit cross rails on only on fixed positions. Our era of RX has real roof rails which you can insert sliding roof rails into which are actually useful. Just pick up ratchet straps from Depot, Harbor Freight, Auto zone pretty much anybody that sells car parts. Fun fact on the Transit the sheet metal is prepunched with stickers over it and underneath are the threaded nuts which are welded onto the roof beams of the van. Only one of the holes was properly aligned! Ford quality it was not fun to have to use a unibit on the roof of a brand new van.

salimshah

For short hops, just get a cargo van [bad weather/furniture] or open truck from Home Depot for less than $20. Only hassle is refueling before returning it.

Damage to vehicle happens due to accidents and not worth the risk.

In a pinch you and very short hop you can tie the mattress on the roof. Do purchase WIDE STRAPS and do not use rope to tie down. Cluthless pointed out that the most stress will be due to the front lifting up with air. Tie the front down over the nose and use the wide straps to pass through open windows side to side.

Salim

Clutchless

And put a towel or microfiber cloth on the hood where the front strap will press against it at the front. You need to protect the paint from scratches as the strap vibrates and slides while driving.

Dmaxdmax

You just said the magic words. I’ll rent.

sqlboy2000

iTrader: (1)

Yes, arm holding down the mattress guy always does seem to end up on video