# RV Body Shop Serving Tustin: Can It Actually Take Your Rig?

> An RV body shop is defined by its building, not its signage. It needs door height for a coach standing over thirteen feet, a booth long enough to finish a full side in one pass, lift capacity for a diesel pusher, and a frame rack. OCRV Center is a 35,000 square foot facility in Yorba Linda serving Tustin.

Source: https://ocrv.biz/rv-body-shop/
Business: OCRV Center, 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887. (949) 799-3387. Serving Tustin, California.
Ballpark range: $750 to $12,000. Posted rates at https://ocrv.biz/prices/

## What equipment does a real RV body shop have to own?

Five things, and a shop missing any of them is quietly moving part of your repair to another building and billing it back to you.

**Door and ceiling height**: 
A Class A stands over thirteen feet with the air conditioners on top. A shop with a standard roll up door cannot get a technician above the unit once it is inside.

**Booth length**: 
Refinishing a forty five foot side in sections leaves a visible break. A full length booth is what makes one continuous pass possible.

**Lift capacity**: 
A diesel pusher runs well past 30,000 pounds. Automotive lifts do not take that, which is why undercarriage and suspension access is where most shops stop.

**A frame rack that accepts the length**: 
Pulling a racked motorhome frame requires anchor points spaced for the wheelbase, not for a sedan.

**Fiberglass and composite capability**: 
Chopped strand mat, resin work and gelcoat finishing are a different trade from sheet metal, and most auto body technicians have never done it.

## Why did the auto body shop down the street turn you away?

Usually because of cycle time, not capability. An automotive shop measures success in cars per bay per week. A single motorhome occupies a bay the size of four cars for six weeks, and the carrier pays on an RV labor schedule the shop has no experience negotiating. The economics do not work for them.

The second reason is parts. An auto shop orders a fender from a distributor with next day delivery. An RV panel may be a discontinued molding that has to be fabricated in house, and a shop without a fiberglass department has no path to that. The third reason is liability on structure. Cutting into a laminated sidewall and reclosing it incorrectly creates a leak path that surfaces as a delaminated wall two seasons later, long after the invoice cleared.

None of that is a criticism of the auto shop. It is why a separate trade exists.

## What body work does an RV actually need most often?

Ranked by how often it comes through the gate at OCRV Center rather than by how dramatic it looks:

- **Cab and panel damage**, meaning doors, hoods, fenders and bumpers, at $750 to $12,000 and 5 to 60 labor hours.

- **Compartment and baggage door repair**, $200 to $1,800, usually from a door left latched open against a wall or from a hinge pulling out of a rotted substrate.

- **Fiberglass cap repair**, front or rear, $750 to $12,000, most often from a tree branch, a fuel canopy or a rear end tap while parked.

- **Aluminum skin and sidewall replacement**, $2,500 to $25,000, the standard repair on stick and tin travel trailers after hail or a tree strike.

- **Decal and graphics replacement**, $500 to $5,500, which is what makes a repaired panel disappear rather than merely look painted.

Every figure comes from the [posted rate card](/prices/). Body labor is billed at $210 per hour.

## What should you ask before you leave the vehicle?

Five questions, and the answers should come without hesitation.

- What is your body labor rate in dollars per hour, and is that the number on my estimate?

- How many labor hours are in this estimate, broken out by operation?

- Is any part of this job leaving your property?

- What happens if teardown finds more than the estimate covers, and who submits the supplement?

- What deposit do you take, and when is the balance due?

For reference, our answers: $210 per hour for body and paint, hours itemized per operation on the estimate, nothing subcontracted out, we write and submit the supplement with photographs, and deposits are half on work over $2,000 with the balance due at pickup.

## Where does body work end and another trade begin?

Body work ends at the skin and the structure directly behind it. Once a repair crosses into refinishing you are on the [paint and refinishing](/services/paint-refinishing/) side. Once it crosses into laminated panel failure that impact did not cause, you are on the [fiberglass and delamination](/services/fiberglass-repair/) side. Once it crosses into a bent chassis you are on [frame and structural](/services/frame-structural-repair/).

Those are separate pages because they are separate operations with separate hour ranges, even though they happen under one roof and land on one estimate. The depth on panel repair method, adhesive class and substrate replacement lives on the [body repair service page](/services/body-repair/). Send photographs through the [quote request form](/contact/) and the sorting happens on our side.

## What is included

- Written line item estimate with labor hours shown per operation
- Photographed damage documentation sent directly to your carrier
- Panel repair or replacement across fiberglass, aluminum and composite skins
- Structural verification on the frame rack before any cosmetic work begins
- Color matched refinish and blending into the adjacent panels
- Decal and graphics replacement matched to the original layout
- Water testing on any seam, window or seal opened during the repair
- A final walk through at the vehicle before the balance is settled

## Questions

### Do you repair RV panels or only replace them?

Both, and the choice is made on the substrate rather than on the skin. A fiberglass skin with an impact crack over sound backing gets repaired. A skin over crushed framing or wet luan comes off so the structure behind it can be rebuilt, because a cosmetic patch over a compromised substrate fails at the edge within a season or two.

### Can you match paint on a coach that has faded for a decade?

Yes, by matching to the vehicle rather than to the original paint code. A spray out card is sprayed and compared against the actual panel in daylight, then adjacent panels are blended so the transition falls at a body line rather than mid panel. Color match blending runs $500 to $5,000 and 4 to 25 labor hours.

### How large a vehicle can you physically take?

Class A coaches to forty five feet, fifth wheels, toy haulers, box trucks, semi tractors, transit and school buses, and bus conversions. The facility is 35,000 square feet under one roof with the door height, booth length and lift capacity to handle full height units without partial disassembly just to get them inside.

## Related

- [Body Repair](https://ocrv.biz/services/body-repair/)
- [Paint and Refinishing](https://ocrv.biz/services/paint-refinishing/)
- [Fiberglass Repair](https://ocrv.biz/services/fiberglass-repair/)
- [Frame and Structural Repair](https://ocrv.biz/services/frame-structural-repair/)
- [Prices and Posted Rates](https://ocrv.biz/prices/)
- [Why Choose Us](https://ocrv.biz/why-choose-us/)