# Commercial Truck Body Repair for San Clemente Fleets

> Commercial truck body repair at OCRV Center covers cab body and collision, box and cargo body, reefer skin and liner, roll up and swing doors, lift gates, service bodies, headache racks, fifth wheel plates, DOT reflective tape, fleet graphics and full refinish. We do not perform engine, drivetrain or DOT inspection work.

**Type:** Repair service  
**Canonical:** https://ocrv.pro/truck-repair  
**Updated:** 2026-07-29

## Summary

Body work only: cab, box, reefer skin, roll up doors, lift gates and full refinish. We do not do engine, drivetrain or DOT inspection work.

Let us be clear about scope before anything else, because it saves everyone time. We are a body shop. We repair, rebuild and refinish the parts of a commercial truck you can see and touch: the cab, the box, the doors, the racks, the gates and the paint. We do not do engine work, we do not do transmission, axle or driveline work, and we do not perform DOT inspections. If your truck needs those, your fleet mechanic or a commercial service center is the right call.

What we do own is the hard part of fleet body work. A box truck that clipped a loading dock has a rear frame, a door track, a threshold and often a floor edge that all moved together. A cab that took a side hit has structure behind the panel. A reefer body with a punctured skin has insulation behind that skin, and how you repair the puncture determines whether the unit holds temperature next summer or costs you a load.

Fleets in San Clemente, Capistrano Beach, Dana Point and across south Orange County run their trucks to Yorba Linda because downtime is the real cost. We are set up for large vehicles: 35,000 square feet, bay height built for Class A motorhomes, and a paint booth that takes a full box body. That means a truck goes through one facility instead of three vendors.

## What We Do and What We Do Not Do on a Commercial Truck

Fleet managers get burned when a shop takes a truck in without being honest about scope, then subcontracts half the job and adds three weeks to the schedule. So here is the boundary in plain terms. Everything from the frame rail up and outward, meaning cab structure, body structure, panels, doors, racks, gates, decks and paint, is work we perform in house. Everything mechanical under the hood or in the driveline is not.

We also do not perform DOT inspections or issue inspection certifications. We will repair items that would fail an inspection on the body side, including reflective tape, lighting mounts, damaged doors, insecure racks and corroded body mounting, but the inspection itself is done elsewhere.

The practical benefit of that boundary is speed. Because we are not juggling mechanical work, a body job moves continuously. Trucks that come to us for a rear corner rebuild after a dock strike typically go through as a single work order rather than sitting between departments.

- **In scope: cab and body structure:** Cab panels, doors, roof, floor, body mounting, box structure, rails, posts, crossmembers, threshold and rear frame repair, plus full structural welding on the body itself.
- **In scope: doors, gates and racks:** Roll up and swing doors, lift gates, service bodies, headache racks, fifth wheel plates, deck plate and toolbox mounting, and any bracketry that carries load into the body.
- **In scope: refinish and markings:** Full repaint, panel refinish and blending, fleet graphics and vinyl, lettering, DOT reflective conspicuity tape and unit numbering to your specification.
- **Not in scope: mechanical:** No engine, transmission, differential, driveline, steering, suspension or brake system work. Those belong with your fleet mechanic or a commercial service center.
- **Not in scope: DOT inspection:** We do not perform or certify DOT inspections. We will repair body side items that would fail one, including tape, door function and insecure mounting, but the inspection happens elsewhere.

## Cab Body Repair and Collision on Class 3 Through Class 8

Cab damage on a commercial truck is a different animal from a pickup. Medium duty cabs are steel over a structural cage with body mounts isolating them from the frame. Heavy duty cabs are often aluminum panels over a steel or aluminum substructure, and the two metals cannot be repaired the same way or in the same area of the shop without contamination control.

The most common jobs we see are side impacts from tight yards and city streets, front corner hits, mirror and door damage, and cab corner and rocker corrosion on trucks that have been in service ten years. Cab body repair runs $750 to $12,000 across five to sixty hours. Full collision repair with refinish runs $1,500 to $50,000 and above across ten to two hundred fifty hours.

What we check that a general shop misses is the body mount and the cab to frame relationship. A hit hard enough to move a cab panel frequently shifted the cab on its mounts, and a cab sitting even slightly out of position will show up as a door that will not seal, a hood that will not latch cleanly and a windshield that stress cracks within a few months.

- **Cab panel and door repair:** Door skins, cab corners, rockers, roof panels and front fascia repaired or replaced, with aluminum and steel handled separately to avoid galvanic contamination.
- **Body mount and cab position:** Cab mounts, bushings and the cab to frame relationship checked after any significant impact. An out of position cab produces door seal, hood latch and windshield problems later.
- **Corrosion repair on aging cabs:** Cab corners, rocker panels, door bottoms and step wells cut back to sound metal and replaced with new panels rather than filled, then sealed and coated inside and out.
- **Glass and hardware:** Windshield and door glass replacement, mirror arm and bracket repair, grab handle and step reinforcement, and door latch and hinge service on high cycle fleet units.

## Box and Cargo Body Repair: Panels, Posts, Threshold and Rear Frame

A dry van box body is a structure made of vertical posts, top and bottom rails, a floor, a roof bow assembly and skin. It looks like a rectangular shell and behaves like a truss. When the rear corner takes a dock hit, the post bends, the rail deforms, the threshold pushes in and the door track goes out of alignment all at once, which is why a door that will not roll is so rarely a door problem.

We repair in the order the structure loads: rear frame and threshold first, then posts and rails, then skin, then door hardware, then floor edge. Box and cargo body repair runs $750 to $15,000 across five to eighty hours. That range covers everything from a single panel replacement to a full rear frame rebuild with new posts and a reskin.

Floor work in a box is usually at the threshold and the first two feet, because that is where forklift wheels and moisture concentrate. Hardwood floors get board replacement with matching thickness and the correct fasteners into the crossmembers. Aluminum and composite floors get section replacement. Either way we look underneath at the crossmembers before quoting the top surface.

- **Rear frame and threshold:** The rear frame is the highest stress point on a box body and takes every dock strike. Rebuilding it straight is what makes a roll up door work again and keeps the rear seal closing.
- **Post and rail replacement:** Bent or cracked vertical posts and top and bottom rails cut out and replaced. Skin over a bent post looks fine for a month and then telegraphs the deformation right back through.
- **Skin panel replacement:** Aluminum, FRP or sheet and post panel sections replaced between structural members with correct rivet or fastener pattern and sealed seams.
- **Floor and crossmember repair:** Hardwood board replacement or composite section repair, with crossmembers inspected and repaired first because a new floor on corroded crossmembers is a wasted job.
- **Roof bow and roof panel:** Roof strikes from low clearance structures bend bows and tear panels. We replace the bows, not just the panel, or the roof will oil can and leak at the next seam.

## Reefer Skin and Liner Repair Without Wrecking the Insulation

Refrigerated bodies are three layers: an outer skin, a foam insulation core and an inner liner, usually a fiberglass reinforced panel. The whole assembly works because the foam is dry, continuous and bonded to both faces. A puncture in the outer skin lets moisture into the foam. Wet foam loses most of its insulating value and gains weight, and the damage spreads outward from the puncture along the panel.

That is why a reefer repair is not a patch. We cut back the outer skin to establish the boundary of wet or crushed foam, remove the compromised core, install new foam bonded to the liner, then bond and mechanically fasten a new outer skin section with sealed seams. Inner liner damage from forklift and pallet contact gets the same treatment from inside: cut back, replace core if wet, bond a new liner section, seal every joint.

Reefer skin and liner repair runs $1,000 to $18,000 across eight to eighty hours. The reason for that spread is almost entirely how far the wet foam has traveled. A puncture repaired in the first month is small. The same puncture found after a rainy winter can involve most of a side panel. Seams matter more than anything else on a reefer, because an unsealed seam is a permanent moisture path into the core.

- **Wet core boundary mapping:** The skin is cut back until sound dry foam is reached. Repairing over wet foam traps the moisture and the panel continues to fail behind a repair that looks correct.
- **Foam core replacement:** New closed cell foam bonded to the liner face so the assembly regains both its insulation value and the structural stiffness the sandwich depends on.
- **Outer skin sectioning:** New skin sections bonded and mechanically fastened at structural members, with every seam sealed rather than caulked over after the fact.
- **Inner liner repair:** Fiberglass reinforced liner damage from forklifts and pallets repaired from inside, with the core inspected through the opening and replaced where it is wet or crushed.
- **Door and seal integrity:** Reefer door gaskets, hinges and cam latches restored so the door closes on full seal compression, which is where a surprising share of temperature loss actually originates.

## Roll Up Doors, Lift Gates, Service Bodies and Racks

Roll up doors are the single highest frequency repair in a delivery fleet, and the cause is almost always the opening rather than the door. A rear frame that has been struck squeezes the track, the door binds, drivers force it, and the panel hinges crack. We straighten or rebuild the rear frame and track first, then service the door: panel hinges, rollers, track, drum spring tension, cable and bottom seal. Roll up and swing door work runs $400 to $4,500.

Lift gates take a beating and their mounting takes more. Gate installation and repair runs $1,500 to $8,500 across eight to thirty five hours. The failure we see most is not the gate mechanism but the mounting: the gate is bolted to a body that was never reinforced for it, and over time the mounting plate elongates its holes and works loose. Any gate we install gets proper reinforcement into body structure, not into skin and rail alone.

Service bodies, headache racks and fifth wheel plates round out the list. Service body installation runs $2,500 to $15,000. Headache racks run $750 to $3,500. Fifth wheel plate work runs $1,500 to $5,500. On every one of these, the mounting is the job. A rack or plate that transfers load into unreinforced sheet metal will crack the sheet metal, and that repair costs more than doing the mounting right the first time.

- **Roll up door and track:** Rear frame and track straightened first, then panel hinges, rollers, drum spring tension, cable and bottom seal serviced as a set rather than one part at a time.
- **Swing and barn door hardware:** Hinge and pin replacement, cam latch and keeper alignment, door frame squaring and full weatherstrip renewal so the doors close without being forced.
- **Lift gate mounting and service:** Gate installation with structural reinforcement into body members, plus hydraulic cylinder, pump, wiring and platform repair on gates already in service.
- **Service bodies and toolboxes:** Service and utility body installation on chassis cab units, door and compartment seal repair, and toolbox and drawer system mounting into reinforced structure.
- **Headache racks and fifth wheel plates:** Cab protection racks and fifth wheel mounting plates fabricated, repaired and mounted with load spread into frame or body structure rather than into panel material.

## Full Refinish, Fleet Graphics and DOT Reflective Tape

Paint on a commercial truck is doing a job, not just looking good. A fleet unit that has been on the road eight years has oxidized clear, chalked color and edge corrosion starting at every fastener and seam. Refinishing it properly means stripping or thoroughly correcting the substrate, addressing corrosion at the source, priming with an epoxy or self etching product appropriate to the metal, and then laying color and clear.

Full refinish and repaint runs $5,000 to $30,000 across forty to two hundred hours. Where that lands depends on truck size, how much corrosion has to be cut out first, and how many colors and graphics are involved. Collision refinish on a partial repair is priced within the collision job and runs from panel blending upward.

Graphics and markings go on last. Fleet graphics and vinyl wrap, unit numbering and lettering are applied over fully cured finish, which means the schedule has to allow for cure time before vinyl. DOT reflective conspicuity tape runs $250 to $1,200 and is applied to the required pattern and placement on the rear and side of the body. Tape is cheap and its absence is a common citation, so we check it on every commercial unit that comes through regardless of why it is here.

- **Substrate correction first:** Oxidized clear, chalked color and edge corrosion addressed before primer. Paint over corrosion at a seam or fastener lifts within a season and takes the new finish with it.
- **Full repaint:** Complete refinish in single stage or basecoat and clear, priced $5,000 to $30,000 across forty to two hundred hours depending on truck size and corrosion scope.
- **Fleet graphics and lettering:** Cut vinyl, printed panels and full wraps applied over cured finish, with unit numbers, DOT numbers and carrier markings placed to your fleet specification.
- **DOT reflective conspicuity tape:** Red and white reflective tape applied to the required pattern and placement on the rear and sides. Priced $250 to $1,200 and checked on every commercial unit we handle.

## Pricing

| Line item | Range | Hours |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Collision repair and paint refinish | $1,500 to $50,000+ | 10 to 250 |
| Cab body repair | $750 to $12,000 | 5 to 60 |
| Box and cargo body repair | $750 to $15,000 | 5 to 80 |
| Reefer skin and liner repair | $1,000 to $18,000 | 8 to 80 |
| Lift gate installation and repair | $1,500 to $8,500 | 8 to 35 |
| Full refinish and repaint | $5,000 to $30,000 | 40 to 200 |
| DOT reflective tape | $250 to $1,200 |  |

## Process

1. **Bring the unit to Yorba Linda** (Day 1). Drive it in or have it towed. We confirm scope up front so there is no surprise about mechanical work we do not perform. Collision estimates are by appointment.
2. **Teardown and structural assessment** (Days 2 to 5). Damaged panels and skin come off so the posts, rails, rear frame, cab mounts or reefer core can be seen and photographed rather than guessed at.
3. **Repair plan, fleet or carrier approval** (Days 4 to 10). A line-item plan goes to your fleet manager or your adjuster with photos attached. We handle carrier back and forth directly when the job is insured.
4. **Structural and body repair** (Weeks 1 to 5). Rear frame, posts, rails, cab structure, floor and core work completed and verified before any skin, panel or finish work begins.
5. **Skin, doors, gates and hardware** (Weeks 2 to 8). Skin panels, door and track hardware, lift gates, racks and bodies installed with proper reinforcement into structure.
6. **Refinish, graphics and DOT tape** (Final 1 to 4 weeks). Corrosion correction, primer, color and clear, then cure time before graphics, lettering and reflective tape. Final function check on every door and gate.

## What is included

- Written scope that clearly states what is body work and what is not
- Cab structure, panel and body mount inspection after any impact
- Aluminum and steel repair handled separately to avoid galvanic contamination
- Rear frame, threshold, post and rail rebuild on box and cargo bodies
- Floor and crossmember repair in hardwood, aluminum or composite
- Reefer skin and liner sectioning with wet foam core replacement
- Roll up, swing and barn door hardware service with track correction
- Lift gate, service body, headache rack and fifth wheel plate mounting into structure
- Corrosion cut out and replacement before any primer or color goes on
- Full refinish, fleet graphics, lettering and DOT reflective tape to spec

## Questions

### Do you do engine or drivetrain work on commercial trucks?

No. We are a body shop. We do not perform engine, transmission, differential, driveline, steering, suspension or brake system work, and we do not perform or certify DOT inspections. We repair the cab, the body, the doors, the gates, the racks and the finish. For mechanical work your fleet mechanic or a commercial service center is the right stop.

### What does commercial truck body repair cost?

Cab body repair runs $750 to $12,000. Box and cargo body repair runs $750 to $15,000. Reefer skin and liner repair runs $1,000 to $18,000. Full collision repair with refinish runs $1,500 to $50,000 and above. Full refinish and repaint runs $5,000 to $30,000. Body and paint labor is posted at $210 per hour.

### My box truck roll up door will not open after a dock strike. Is it the door?

Usually the opening, not the door. A dock strike squeezes the rear frame and pinches the track, the door binds, and drivers forcing it crack the panel hinges. We rebuild the rear frame and straighten the track first, then service hinges, rollers, drum spring tension, cable and seal. Roll up and swing door work runs $400 to $4,500.

### How long will my truck be out of service?

A door, rack or gate repair is typically three to seven days. Moderate cab or box damage runs two to four weeks. A rear frame rebuild with posts and reskin, or a reefer panel with significant wet core, runs four to eight weeks. Full refinish adds one to four weeks on its own because cure time before graphics cannot be compressed.

### Do you bill insurance directly on commercial truck claims?

Yes. We bill direct with the major carriers and handle the estimate, documentation and supplements with your adjuster. Commercial claims often involve a cargo component and a downtime component, and we provide the photographic teardown record and line-item repair plan those conversations require. Insurance billed work may use carrier negotiated rates that differ from our posted retail rates.

### Can you handle multiple fleet units and keep us running?

Yes. We schedule fleet work in stages so you are not down more than an agreed number of units at a time, and we combine body repair, graphics and DOT reflective tape into one visit rather than sending trucks to separate vendors. Talk to us about a rotation schedule if you are refinishing an aging fleet over a season.

## Related

- https://ocrv.pro/sprinter-van-repair
- https://ocrv.pro/trailer-repair
- https://ocrv.pro/rv-collision-repair
- https://ocrv.pro/rv-paint-shop
- https://ocrv.pro/repairs/frame-and-structural
- https://ocrv.pro/claims/how-claims-work
- https://ocrv.pro/rv-body-shop