# Major Collision Repair: Cost, Hours and Process in Hacienda Heights Major collision repair is impact damage that moved structure. Frame rails, outriggers, sidewall substructure, cap framing or slide room openings are out of tolerance and have to be pulled back to specification before any panel goes on. It is measurement driven work with a long parts calendar attached. ## Specifications - Price band: $8,000 to $60,000 plus - Shop hours: 40 to 320 plus hours - Turnaround tier: Structural - Insurance billable: yes - Parts lead time: 3 to 20 weeks. Frame and Lippert sections are fast, molded caps and printed graphics are not - OEM brands: Lippert, Car-O-Liner, Chief, Spartan Chassis, Freightliner Custom Chassis, Ford E-450 ## How structural damage propagates through a coach Impact energy does not stop where the metal stops moving. On a chassis with ladder frame rails, a front corner strike loads the rail, then the outriggers, then the floor structure bolted across them. The visible damage is at the corner; the measurable damage is often mid coach where an outrigger has rotated a degree and a half and taken a slide opening out of square with it. That is why the diagnosis is a full body measurement and not an inspection of the damaged area. We read every accessible control point, not just the ones near the impact, because the point of the exercise is to find the movement you cannot see. On a coach that has been hit hard, a third of the findings are typically outside the visibly damaged third of the vehicle. Practically, this is also the difference between a repair that holds and one that comes back. A coach put back together to look right but left a degree out of square will chew slide seals, crack sealant joints and open a delamination line in the sidewall within two seasons. ## The pull sequence and why order matters The coach is anchored to the bench and pulls are set in the reverse order of the collision. The last thing to deform is the first thing corrected. Pulling in collision order instead is how a shop induces new damage while removing old, and it is the most common reason a previously repaired coach arrives here still out of tolerance. Pulls are incremental and measured between each one. Where a rail section is kinked rather than bent, it is sectioned and replaced at a manufacturer approved location rather than heated and straightened, because a heated and re bent rail has lost its temper and will not behave the same way in the next event. Substructure work follows the same logic. Aluminum tube framing that has been collapsed is cut out and spliced with matching profile, welded by a certification gated process where the joint carries load. Steel tube gets the same treatment with the appropriate process and filler. - Anchor to bench, full control point read, printed baseline - Pulls sequenced in reverse order of the collision - Measurement between each incremental pull, not only at the end - Kinked rail sections replaced at approved locations rather than heat straightened - Substructure tube spliced with matching profile, load bearing joints certification gated - Final measurement printout retained in the repair file ## The parts calendar is usually the schedule On a job in this band, labor is 40 to 320 plus hours, but the calendar is almost never set by labor. It is set by the slowest part. Lippert frame and chassis components move quickly, often inside a week. Chassis specific suspension and steering components from a Freightliner, Spartan or Ford supplier are typically two to four weeks. The long pole is almost always a molded assembly or a printed graphic. A front or rear cap from the coach builder can be 8 to 20 weeks, and on a model out of production it may be unavailable at any lead time, at which point the honest options are a fabricated repair or a total loss conversation. We would rather have that conversation in week one. This is why we order long lead items off the teardown estimate before short lead items, and why the special order deposit exists. Parts committed early are the only way a structural job finishes in a reasonable window. ## What the file looks like on a claim Major collision is almost always an insurance job, and the file is what determines whether it goes smoothly. We photograph at intake, at teardown, at each measurement stage and at reassembly, and the measurement printouts go in the file with the photographs. That matters because the first estimate a carrier writes is based on visible damage, and on coach collision the visible damage is a fraction of the total. Supplements are the norm here. A supplement supported by a printed control point comparison is an administrative step. A supplement supported by a phone call is a negotiation. We bill direct with every major carrier and will coordinate the adjuster review at the facility. Insurance billed jobs may be billed at carrier negotiated labor rates that differ from the posted retail rates. ## Not included - We do not perform structural pulls at a customer location. Anchoring and measurement require the bench. - Engine and transmission internal rebuild is outside what this facility performs, on any collision job. - Interior reconstruction beyond what the structural repair requires is quoted as interior work. ## Questions **Can a bent RV frame actually be repaired?** Usually yes. A frame rail that is bent within its elastic and plastic range is pulled back to specification on the bench and verified by measurement. A rail that is kinked, torn or has lost section is replaced at a manufacturer approved sectioning point instead, because heating and re bending a kinked rail leaves it softer than it started. Which case you have is a measurement finding, not a judgment call. **How long will major collision repair take?** Three to eight weeks is typical, and longer is common when a molded cap or a printed graphic is in scope. Labor runs 40 to 320 plus hours, but the schedule is set by the slowest part rather than by the labor. Frame and Lippert components move in days to weeks. Coach builder caps can be 8 to 20 weeks and occasionally are not available at all. **What if a part for my coach is discontinued?** Then you have two honest paths. One is fabrication: we build the section or the panel and finish it to match, which is certification gated where the joint carries load. The other is a repairable versus total loss evaluation, because a coach that needs an unavailable structural assembly may cost more to rebuild than it is worth. We will show you both sets of numbers. **Will the coach be safe to drive afterward?** That is the point of measuring rather than eyeballing. The repair is not considered complete until control points read inside the chassis manufacturer tolerance and the printout is in the file, and any driver assistance sensors disturbed by the repair are scanned and recalibrated before release. Alignment is verified on the rack afterward, not assumed. **Do I need to be present for the adjuster inspection?** No, and most owners are not. Adjusters inspect at the facility on their own schedule and we handle the walkthrough with the teardown open, which is when the inspection is actually useful. We do not perform adjuster support at customer locations. You get the photographs and the measurement data either way. --- Source: https://ocrv.club/rv-collision-repair/major-collision-repair OCRV Center, 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887 Phone (949) 799-3387. Email info@ocrvcenter.com. Serving Hacienda Heights and the surrounding area. 18.4 miles, 24 to 38 minutes via SR-60 west to Fullerton Rd, then south to La Palma Ave. In shop work only. All estimates are priced and credited against an authorized repair.