Written While the Vehicle Was Still on the Rack

How RV and van claims actually work, written by the estimators who file the supplements. Documentation, valuation, total loss and underpaid estimates.

• Santa Ana Wind Claims

  Santa Ana gusts strip awnings and lift roof membranes on stored coaches every fall. Here is how to document a wind claim when nobody witnessed the event.

  12 minute read

• Sudden vs Gradual Water

  Almost every RV water damage denial turns on one policy phrase. Here is what separates a covered sudden event from an excluded gradual leak.

  12 minute read

• Documenting a Van Build

  A conversion van with no build file settles as a cargo van. Here is the documentation package that establishes value before anything goes wrong.

  12 minute read

• Total Loss Comps

  A total loss offer is built from three or four comparable listings and a condition adjustment. Here is how to read that sheet and where the errors usually sit.

  12 minute read

• Betterment on Roof Claims

  Betterment is why a $12,000 roof claim pays $7,800. Here is how the deduction is calculated on membrane and sealant, and what actually reduces it.

  12 minute read

• Stalled Supplements

  A supplement stalls for four specific reasons, and none of them are that the damage is fake. Here is what a desk reviewer needs before they can release funds.

  12 minute read

• The Adjuster Walkaround

  An RV adjuster forms most of a claim opinion in the first nine minutes. Here is the order they walk a coach and what each stop actually decides.

  11 minute read

What actually fails on RVs, campers and fifth wheels, why it fails there, and what the repair involves. Written from the shop floor, not from a brochure.

• Corner Stress Cracks

  Cracks radiating from a window corner are a structural message, not a paint flaw. Here is how to tell a surface craze from a substrate failure.

  12 minute read

• Blued Bearing Races

  A blue tinted bearing race means the grease already failed. Here is the repack interval that works, and why EZ Lube fittings often make it worse.

  12 minute read

• Milky Hydraulic Fluid

  Cloudy fluid in a leveling reservoir is emulsified water, and it pits cylinder chrome from the inside. Here is where it enters and what it ruins.

  12 minute read

• Awning Arm Failure

  Awning fabric is stronger than the arm holding it. Here is the load path that puts wind energy into the arm, and how a small bend ends a whole assembly.

  11 minute read

• Yellow Powder Warning

  A yellow or green residue on the boiler tube is sodium chromate from a leaking absorption cooling unit. Here is what that means and what happens next.

  11 minute read

• Sealant Selection

  Using the wrong sealant on a vertical surface is why half of DIY roof repairs fail. Here is which product goes where, and what each is compatible with.

  11 minute read

• The Tap Test

  A knuckle and a quiet afternoon will map delamination better than a visual inspection. Here is the technique, the sounds, and how to record what you find.

  11 minute read

• Kingpin Wear

  A worn kingpin makes a specific sound at a specific moment. Here is what to listen for, what to measure, and when the pin box itself is the problem.

  11 minute read

• Ceiling Stain Tracing

  Water enters a roof at one point and appears at another. Here is how to trace a ceiling stain back to its actual entry point instead of guessing.

  11 minute read

• Clicking Slide Rooms

  A clicking slide is a motor skipping teeth on a worn rack. Here is how to tell a timing fault from a mechanical one before the rack destroys itself.

  11 minute read

Body, paint and equipment articles for fleet operators. Downtime math, staged refinishing, graphics, lift gates and keeping units earning.

• Upfit Anchor Cracks

  Shelving bolted through thin van sheet metal cracks the panel around the fastener. Here is the load math and how to spread it properly.

  12 minute read

• Liftgate Drift

  A liftgate platform that settles under load has an internal leak, not a low fluid level. Here is the drift test and what it costs to ignore.

  12 minute read

• Staged Fleet Refinish

  Repainting 22 box trucks one at a time keeps every unit earning. Here is the staging math, the color control and the graphics sequence we use.

  12 minute read

• Downtime Per Day

  A parked delivery truck costs more than the repair. Here is how to calculate revenue, driver, lease and route cost per unit per day.

  12 minute read

• Coastal Sprinter Rust

  Salt air finds the same six places on every Sprinter running a coastal route. Here is the order they go and what stops the progression.

  11 minute read

• Roll-Up Door Slats

  The bottom two slats of a roll-up door take every dock strike and every ground impact. Here is how the damage propagates and when to stop patching.

  11 minute read

Real jobs from the floor. What came in, what we found at teardown, what it took, what it cost and how long it actually sat.

• Cabover Rebuild

  A eucalyptus limb came through the cabover bunk of a Class C. Roof, cabover structure, windshield surround and 19 working days of work.

  13 minute read

• Ramp Door Tear Out

  A ramp door hinge tore out of the rear wall on a 34 foot toy hauler. What the hinge line looked like inside and what it took to rebuild.

  13 minute read

• Buckled Frame Rails

  A jackknife on a wet on ramp buckled both frame rails ahead of the axles. What we measured, what we cut out, and why the A frame was fine.

  13 minute read

• Sprinter Galley Rebuild

  A rear impact at 18 mph pushed the rear doors 4 inches into a camper galley. Body, cabinetry, plumbing and 12 volt, rebuilt in 27 days.

  13 minute read

• Subfloor Rebuild

  Two seasons of a hardened slide bulb seal put water under the floor of a 36 foot fifth wheel. Teardown, 61 square feet of subfloor, real hours.

  13 minute read

• Front Cap Section

  A 38 foot diesel pusher clipped a parking structure beam at 12 feet 4 inches. Teardown, sectional cap repair, hours and the calendar it took.

  12 minute read

What coastal storage, marine layer humidity, salt air and Santa Ana wind do to an RV in south Orange County, and what to do about it each season.

• Pre Rain Roof Checks

  Sixty minutes on the roof in September prevents most winter water damage. Six checks, in the order that finds the important failures first.

  12 minute read

• June Gloom Moisture

  Marine layer mornings put the interior below dew point for hours. Here is where the water forms, what it ruins, and the cheapest way to stop it.

  12 minute read

• Tire Date Codes

  RV tires age out before they wear out. Here is how to read the date code, what seven years of coastal sun does, and what to check before a tow.

  12 minute read

• Spring Rodent Check

  Five months parked is long enough for a nest in a furnace duct. Here is the reactivation walkthrough that finds damage before you drive it.

  12 minute read

• Coastal Winter Layup

  A coastal coach does not freeze, so layup here is about humidity, battery state and rodents. Here is the storage sequence that actually matters.

  12 minute read

Step by step walkthroughs for owners: what to check, how to tell the difference between two similar symptoms, and when it stops being a shop-free job.

• After a Curb Strike

  A curb strike at a gas station can bend a spindle. Here are eight checks, in order, before you decide the trailer is safe to keep towing.

  12 minute read

• Generator Load Test

  A generator that starts is not a generator that works. Here is how to load it to 80 percent and what voltage and frequency should read.

  12 minute read

• Slide Seal or Window

  Both leaks wet the same wall in the same place. Here are five tests that separate a slide seal from a window frame in under an hour.

  12 minute read

• Reading an Estimate

  Every estimate line has an operation code, a labor type and a time. Here is how to read one, and which four abbreviations actually matter.

  12 minute read

Changes in construction methods, materials, insurance practice and California repair regulation that affect what your vehicle costs to fix.

• BAR Invoice Rules

  California requires a written estimate, your authorization for changes and a final invoice listing every part. Here is what that gives you.

  12 minute read

• Composite Substrates

  Composite substrate has replaced luan plywood in many laminated walls. It does not rot, and that changes both leak diagnosis and repair method.

  12 minute read