How To Repair Rv Body Damage

Howdy readers! Kevin Valente here with UCRVAZ to discuss with you lot the stages of RV repair, and why collision repair for an RV is more complex than fixing a car. There are multiple moving parts during the repair process. Everything from the repair center, motorhome manufacturer, insurance company, to parts distributors, etc. will decide the time duration and quality of repair. When your motorhome is damaged, or in a collision, it is very of import that you pick the correct shop for your rig. At Ultimate Collision, we specialize in motorhome repair for RVs of all sizes from small travel trailers all the mode up to 45' Class A Diesel fuel Pushers. In this blog, I will hash out how all of these factors affect the repair process and inform you lot on the steps of the repair process.

-Why the standoff repair middle you choose is important-

Let's talk about the day everyone dreads – the mean solar day your motorhome gets damaged. At Ultimate Standoff, we know when this happens anybody has three common goals. Customers want to become their rig repaired correctly, quickly and easily. We have streamlined our repair process to make it every bit easy equally possible for our customers. This process starts with the first phone or email conversation we accept with our customers. For customers in the greater Phoenix surface area, we will come to you for a preliminary gauge inside 24 hours of contact. If you are bringing your RV in for an approximate, from the minute your coach touches the ground at our location, nosotros will exist in contact with you to discuss the best practice for the repair, fix realistic time frames and hash out the insurance, or client pay process.

If a customer is going through an insurance merits, once the merits is started, we volition work with the insurance company directly to save yous time and expedite the repair process. Just like every motorhome manufacturer is different, every RV insurer varies on their process and procedures. Our expert RV team volition guide you on the process for your insurance visitor, and give you updates during the repair process. We frequently hear from customers that accept gone to our competitors for previous repairs say that their biggest complaint is the lack in communication during the repair process. At Ultimate Collision, we understand that your RV is your second dwelling house and we will work effectually your needs and travel plans to accommodate your repair.

In addition to supportive role staff, nosotros have state-of-the-art facility to handle any size RV repair. Our extra-large 60' pigment can accommodate any size trailer, fifth bicycle, or motorized RV on the route today. Our lead technicians accept decades of experience and most importantly, experience with all brands of motorhomes. We can repair everything from rock chips, to fiberglass repair, roof replacements, full wall replacements, tire blowouts and everything in betwixt.

-Differences in manufacturing-

Before choosing a repair facility, I recommend walking the lot and investigating the kind of motorhomes and quality of work. If the shop yous are looking at doesn't have your brand of motorhome on the lot, or can show you earlier and after repair pictures of your make of motorhome, I would recommend looking elsewhere. Motorhomes are built differently depending on the manufacturer. For example, some motorhomes accept safety roofs, other take fiberglass and some have aluminum. Interior and outside wall materials and associates likewise differ by manufacturers.

Some differences are less obvious like the wiring that goes throughout your double-decker, or the insulation that goes into the walls. Unlike manufacturers too utilize different brands and quality of pigment. It is important choose a repair facility that understands all aspects of the repair for your rig. All of these items could be key components when repairing an RV. A lot of repair centers are skillful at making a repair look presentable, but not necessary doing the repair correctly. Do your homework and make certain that your collision repair heart is fit for the chore.

-Insurance claims-

As mentioned earlier, we do our best to brand the claims procedure as like shooting fish in a barrel as possible for our customers. We can repair any brand RV, and work with all RV insurance companies. Once an RV is at our location for a repair, we go through the outside (interior if necessary) of the bus with a fine-tooth comb. We take lots of pictures and mark every area on the coach that is damaged. The more information and photos we can provide to an insurer, the faster the claims procedure will become.

Most of the time an adjustor volition desire to inspect the damage on the rig. We will schedule a time for the adjustor to come on site and get the data he or she needs. A member of our staff will exist on site to elaborate on the repair and best practice to bring the RV back to pre-loss condition. In one case the claim is started, we remove any components and trunk panels to further inspect the damaged area. Well-nigh of the fourth dimension there is more impairment than what meets the center when repairing an RV. If this is the example, a supplement to our original approximate will be written and submitted to the insurance company.

When nosotros have full approval for our claim, parts are ordered and nosotros begin the repair procedure. Based on client preference we will update customers with progress during repairs via text, calls or emails. During a claim, advice is key and we want our customers to be informed where we are at during the dissimilar stages of the repair.

When your vehicle is ready to be picked up, it will exist clean and a concluding walk around of the rig will take place to ensure our client is happy with the repair. Nosotros take pride in our piece of work and every repair comes with an ownership lifetime warranty. This means that your repair is warrantied for as long as you lot own your RV.

-The repair procedure-

Whether it is client pay or an insurance merits, once we become the green light, nosotros waste no fourth dimension starting on our repair. For paint, this means sanding downwardly the affected expanse and feathering out scratches, chips, nicks, etc. If the damage is all the way through the pigment and into the fiberglass, nosotros tin fill in the affected areas with new fiberglass or replace panels as necessary. Nosotros and then utilise a combination of sanders and hand blocks to level all surfaces. The coach and then goes through a quality check to make sure that the repair surface area is smooth and ready for paint.
Once the rig is pigment-ready, we employ a layer of primer for maximum paint adhesion. A concluding block sanding is then performed to make sure that the repair area is free of imperfections. The fundamental or base color is and so applied. For most Class C and Class A gas motorhomes, there is just one colour. However, this is not always the instance, there can anywhere from 2-5+ colors in a motorhome paint scheme. This makes for a beautiful graphic brandish, and additionally, fourth dimension-consuming and labor-intensive for repair facilities.

Painted on graphics have to exist practical one color at a time and are stenciled past manus. Once the graphics are laid out, each color is masked off and sprayed in our booth. This process is repeated until all colors have been applied. One time the paint has cured, three layers of clear coat are applied for maximum protection from the elements.

For single color coaches with graphics, the graphics accept to be ordered from the manufacturer. This can cause a time delay that I volition go into more detail a little later in this web log. The graphics are laid on the motorcoach later on the paint and clear glaze take both fully cured. For both single, or multi-color RVs, later graphics are practical and clear coat has cured. the rig is re-assembled if whatever parts were taken off of the coach for the repair.

-Replacement parts and availability-

One very frequent problem that any repair facility volition run into is the availability of parts. Unlike cars, most RV parts are non just sitting on a shelf at a dealership. When you lot think almost the number of parts that go into an RV from plumbing, to electrical, to HVAC etc., you would need massive warehouses to store all those parts! Because of this, most replacement RV parts have to exist ordered from the RV manufacturer directly, a third-party parts supplier, or the specific manufacturer of the role needed. For example, RV windows are not a part that most manufacturers or role suppliers stock. When a replacement window is needed, information technology usually takes about 4-viii weeks before the window will arrive at the repair facility.

Near motorhome manufacturers are based back east and in the s. This means that aircraft parts tin exist expensive and timely. Another trouble that repair facilities will run into is that the role shipped from the supplier will occasionally be the incorrect part, or damaged in transit. This is very frustrating for the repair middle and the customer. At Ultimate Standoff, nosotros will pay for expedited shipping to get whatever damaged or incorrect parts to our shop ASAP.

In a worst-case scenario, the manufacturer of the part is no longer in business and nosotros have to fabricate a function for your RV. When information technology comes to trunk panels and fiberglass parts that are no longer bachelor, our expert technicians can fabricate these various parts.

Needless to say, an RV repair is complicated! From different protocol for paint schemes, to insurance companies to parts, there is a lot of people and resources needed for a quality RV collision repair. If you are in need of collision repair, please give u.s. a call for a free gauge and to learn more nigh how we tin get your rig dorsum to pre-loss condition. If you accept already been a customer at our location, thank you for your business concern. For all RV owners, we are here for you!