Grand Design Repair
Grand Design Fifth Wheel and Trailer Repair
Short answer
Grand Design builds above the segment average and it shows during teardown. Most of what we do is collision and impact, not chasing build defects.
OCRV Center repairs Grand Design Solitude, Momentum, Reflection, Imagine and Transcend units for San Clemente owners. As an independent Yorba Linda facility we handle road debris cap damage, jackknife frame correction, awning and roof repair, slide adjustment and corrections to solar or lithium installs.
Updated 2026-07-29 by OCRV Center Editorial Team
Grand Design has a genuinely better reputation than most of the segment, and from a repair perspective that reputation holds up. When we open one of these, the construction is generally what the spec says it is, the fasteners are where they should be, and the sealant work was done properly at the factory.
The practical consequence is that Grand Design work skews toward things that happened to the trailer rather than things wrong with it. Road debris, tow incidents, awning wind damage, wildlife. That is a healthier repair profile than chasing water intrusion caused by a build shortcut.
Impact and Tow Damage Dominates
Front cap strikes from road debris, jackknife damage, and awning and roof damage from Santa Ana wind events make up most of what we see. On a Momentum toy hauler, ramp door and rear structure damage from loading incidents is also common.
Because the underlying build is sound, these repairs tend to scope accurately. We still tear down before finalizing, because a laminated wall hides damage regardless of who built it, but the gap between the outside estimate and the real number is usually smaller on a Grand Design than on a value build.
- Front cap and fiberglass
- Fiberglass cap repair $750 to $12,000 and up. Cap replacement $4,500 to $25,000 and up with parts availability generally better than average.
- Jackknife and pin structure
- Frame and structural welding $750 to $20,000 and up. Solitude and Momentum units carry real forward weight and need measuring after any tow incident.
- Wind damage
- Awning fabric $400 to $2,500, arm and motor $500 to $3,500. A Santa Ana event will take an awning off a trailer that has been parked since spring.
- Momentum garage structure
- Ramp door hinge line, rear wall and tie-down anchoring inspected on any toy hauler regardless of the reported issue.
Solar, Lithium and the Power Side
Grand Design units are frequently upgraded with solar arrays and lithium banks, either from the factory or by the owner. Both are excellent additions and both create roof penetrations and charging considerations that have to be handled correctly.
Solar installation runs $1,500 to $12,000 and up. Where we most often get called is to correct a previous install: penetrations sealed with the wrong product, wire runs that chafe, and a lithium bank charging off a converter that was never designed for it.
Azdel Backed Laminate and a Painted Cap
Grand Design walls are vacuum bonded laminate over aluminum framing with a composite backer instead of luan, capped by a one piece membrane over an arched truss roof. On Solitude and Momentum the front cap is painted rather than gel coated, and on Reflection and Imagine the cap is molded with a graphic overlay. Knowing which one you have decides the refinish approach, because a painted cap repair has to blend into the adjacent sidewall while a gel coat repair can sometimes be contained to the panel.
Slide hardware follows room length. Imagine and Transcend rooms typically run Schwintek in-wall gear racks. Solitude and Momentum living rooms run hydraulic rams off a shared power unit that also feeds the landing gear. Frames are Lippert, wide body on the fifth wheels, with Dexter axles and on the upper models independent or rubber pin suspension. That combination tolerates a jackknife better than most, but the pin box mount still needs measuring after any tow incident rather than a visual look.
- Composite backer advantage
- A wet wall here dries and gets rebonded rather than turning to pulp. The intrusion still has to be found and stopped, but the rebuild footprint is usually a fraction of a luan build.
- Parts documentation
- Grand Design records component part numbers against the serial number, so ordering a specific window, jack or slide motor is faster than the segment norm. Painted caps remain the long lead item.
- Arched roof and truss detail
- A crowned truss roof sheds water toward the drip rail instead of pooling at the center, so the membrane field rarely fails first. The terminations and the sealant collars still do.
- Suspension by trim level
- Leaf springs and equalizers on Imagine and Reflection, heavier independent or rubber pin setups on the upper fifth wheels. Worn bushings load the slide openings, so suspension gets checked alongside any slide complaint.
Grand Design Model Families We Work On
Not exhaustive, and if yours is not listed we almost certainly still take it. Call (949) 799-3387 and describe the coach.
- Grand Design Solitude
- Grand Design Momentum
- Grand Design Reflection
- Grand Design Imagine
- Grand Design Imagine XLS
- Grand Design Transcend
- Grand Design Transcend Xplor
- Grand Design Influence
- Grand Design Lineage
Grand Design Questions We Get Asked
Has Grand Design authorized or endorsed OCRV Center?
No. Grand Design has not certified, authorized or endorsed this shop, and we hold no dealer relationship with the company. We are an independent repair facility licensed by the California Bureau of Automotive Repair as ARD00288521, working from 35,000 square feet in Yorba Linda. Collision, structural, roof, slide and refinish work is what we do, and none of it depends on a factory badge.
Somebody installed solar on my Reflection and now the roof leaks. Can you correct it?
Regularly. The usual findings are penetrations sealed with a product that is incompatible with the membrane, fasteners driven into a truss rather than a backing plate, and wire runs that chafe where they pass the roof edge. We pull the array, clean the penetrations back to the membrane, install proper backing and correct sealant, then reinstall and water test. Solar and power work runs $1,500 to $12,000 and up.
What happens to a Solitude pin box after a jackknife?
It gets measured, not eyeballed. The pin box transfers vertical and lateral tow load directly into the main rails, so a jackknife can bend the mount, deflect a rail or open a weld at an outrigger without leaving much visible on the front wall. Frame and structural welding runs $750 to $20,000 and up, with most of that range determined by how much interior comes out to reach the repair.
Is a lithium upgrade safe on a Grand Design that came with lead acid?
It is, provided the charging sources are handled. A converter designed for flooded batteries will not fully charge a lithium bank and in some cases will cycle it badly, and the same is true of a chassis charge line without a proper isolator. We check the converter profile, the solar controller and the alternator path, then correct what is wrong. Electrical labor is posted at $260 per hour.
My trailer took road debris to the front cap on I-5. What is the repair?
Fiberglass cap repair runs $750 to $12,000 and up, and full cap replacement runs $4,500 to $25,000 and up. We tear the strike zone down before finalizing, because a laminated cap hides separation that spreads outward from the impact point over weeks. Photographs and measurements go to your adjuster as one documented package, which is what keeps a supplement from turning into an argument.