Partially closing the hatch
 

(a.k.a., "I'm moving and my mattress sticks out the back of the car")

Okay... so I moved two months ago into a sublet using my ever-versatile Fit. My mattress is all foam/latex (IKEA), so I was able to squish it into the rear of my Fit with only a little bit sticking out the back. I was able to partially close the hatch over it by using a bungee cord looped through the trunk latch and under the bumper or something... and even then, one end popped off when I went over a bump. (Fortunately, I was only going about 1.5 miles away, but still... :eek:)

I'm moving again to my permanent residence and want to do the same thing... is there any way I can tie the hatch door down securely enough so I don't have to worry about it flying open en route? :D

TIA!

classact2575,
There are several tie-downs in the trunk of the Fit. There are places to attach rope/metal tie-downs. Let me know if this answers your questions.

uhm, use rope and make actual knots?

make sure the bungee cord(s) are very taught and well-hooked up? Also, loop it around stuff before hooking it on?

Use more than one bungee cord or rope.

A "belt and suspenders" approach would be good: Use rope (or preferably flat webbing) to keep the hatch from flying up, then use bungees to snug things up. The non-elastic straps prevent the hatch from excessive movement over a large bump, while the elastic ones keep it snugged up over small bumps. Ratcheted tiedown straps are very nice -- as long as you don't overdo it on the tension.

If you have a latex foam mattress from Ikea, and that's the only thing making you keep your hatch open, why don't you just fold/roll it up? They come shipped rolled up, so you could probably just roll it up and fit it in the car without having to keep the hatch open :).

I'm assuming you've never actually done this? I don't know what it is, but once those things are unwrapped from their vacuum pack, that's it: you can't put that particular genie back in the bottle. You can roll them to a certain extent, but they are now wider and longer than they were when they were wrapped. :)

Good luck on finding a giant compression stuff sack.

I have -- of course you can't roll it as tightly, but you can still roll it, and I'd think you'd be able to fit in inside the car. Then again, I only have a full-sized mattress. I could see that if you had the high-end latex matress in a king size, then maybe even rolling and folding it may not be enough (the OP never mentioned a size).

I guess I'm mostly surprised that no amount of folding and bending could get the mattress to fit without need to have the hatch open :(.

While the stuff sack comment was mildly tongue in cheek, I think that several long straps (such as 2 around the roll, and one across the axis) would allow you to compress a mattress enough to close the hatch. It's a matter of tightening each strap incrementally and sequentially.

If you have a long journey, just remember that having the hatch open will draw exhaust fumes into your car. You can't smell the CO that will eventually kill you.:hyper:

If you have to do it, do it with the windows open and the vent fan on max!

Okay, so I was able to ride with the mattress all the way in -- I stuffed it as far as it'd go, then basically folded up the last 1/4 that was sticking out and shoved it in. It was only a 5 minute trip, so no harm done. :D

I knew about the tie-downs, but I wanted to see if there's an actual spot on the door itself to attach them to... e.g. a hole or something to loop through. :)

I was wondering if anyone had an answer to the OP's question. What is there on the hatch door to tie something to in order to keep hatch down?

Yep. Hauled a six-foot ladder in a Civic years ago; hatch open, I could smell a lot of exhaust, so I rolled down the front windows. It was a 15* day and a 30 mile drive.
Oddly, running the Jeep with the rear window unzipped doesn't seem to cause this problem.
Moon