bed with castors

How to Fix Castors on a Bed

08 Mar 2021

Bed manufacturers usually use a standard 50mm twin castor on their bed bases so that you can transport and rearrange your bed with ease. However, a common problem that many of us are faced with, especially with divan beds, is that the castors keep falling out when you go to move the bed or transport it. It’s a quick and easy fix if you know how. Read on to better understand how to solve this issue and get your bed up and running again.

Fixing castors on your bed

In most cases if you’re experiencing problems with loose castors falling out, it’s normally due to the ferrule fitting in the bed base.

Follow these steps to understand how to remove and repair the fitting as well as replace the castors (if required) on your bed and make it easier to manoeuvre your bed into its final resting place.

Step 1:

Ensure that you have plenty of clear space to move around the bed as you’ll need access to all corners of the bed. In order to be able to replace the ferrule fittings, you need to be able to lift the bed onto its end so that the underside of the bed is facing you and you have easy access to where you’ll be removing both the fitting and the castors. Don’t forget to ask a trusted friend for help lifting the bed base to avoid an injury.

Step 2:

In each of the corners, where your castors should be attached, you will see the ferrule fitting in the base of the bed. Take a screwdriver and carefully prise this fitting out. Once you’ve loosened it, it should just pull right out. When you have the fitting in your hand, you’ll see that the top of it, which was well hidden in the base, is speared out and isn’t catching the castor. This will be the reason why your castor keeps dropping out whenever the bed base is moved.

In order to rectify the problem, take a pair of pliers and gently nip the top of the ferrule fitting to make it tighter. Once you’ve done this, push the fitting back into the hole it came put of and tap it lightly with a rubber mallet to ensure it’s secured in place.

Step 3:

Once you have the ferrule fitting back in place, your castors can be installed quite quickly. Take one castor at a time and push the stem into the grove until you hear a click. If you are struggling to get the castors in place, gently tap the castor with a rubber mallet until you hear the click. Do not use a metal hammer or similar object as this may cause damage to either the castor or bed base.

Now you’ve solved the problem of a loose castor or two, you can position your bed in its final position.

If you find that your castors also need replacing, take a look at our previous blog entitled “How to attach castors to your bed” which will provide further information on selecting new castors and installing them successfully.