Collision and Structural
In-Shop Structural Welding and Custom Metal Fabrication
Typical range
$750 to $20,000+
Shop hours
5 to 80+
Labor rate
$210/hr
The short answer
Certified in-shop welding and fabrication on steel and aluminum structure. Covers frame repair, custom bumpers and racks, reinforcement, hitch fabrication, and equipment mounting. Work runs $750 to $20,000 and up, or 5 to 80 plus hours at $210 per hour.
01
What this work actually involves
Welding on a recreational or commercial vehicle is not general fabrication. The base metals vary within a single unit, the structure is frequently carrying load you cannot see, and there is almost always wiring, plumbing, or LP line running somewhere near where the heat is going. Getting it right means knowing what is behind the panel before the arc starts.
We do frame and structural repair, reinforcement where the original design was the failure point, custom bumper and rack fabrication, hitch and receiver work, and equipment mounting for fleet and mobile business vehicles. All of it in the shop, by certified technicians, with the correct procedure for the base metal.
Aluminum and steel are welded to different procedures and we do not treat them as interchangeable. Aluminum structure welded like steel structure cracks at the heat-affected zone, usually within a year.
Distortion control is where thin-wall fabrication is won or lost. Most recreational and trailer tube is 11 to 14 gauge, and a continuous bead on that section pulls the member out of line as it cools. We stitch, sequence passes to opposing sides, and clamp to a fixture or a straightedge so the finished part measures where it was drawn rather than where the heat wanted to take it. On aluminum the effect is worse, since its coefficient of expansion is roughly double that of steel and the metal loses strength across the heat-affected zone whether or not distortion is controlled. That is why aluminum reinforcement is given a larger footprint than its steel equivalent.
A steady share of what comes through here is correcting somebody else's fabrication, and one failure pattern repeats constantly. A bracket or a hitch gets welded to the bottom flange of a frame rail, which is the tension flange, with the bead run across the rail instead of along it. That transverse bead becomes a crack initiation point and the rail fails through it, frequently inside a couple thousand miles. Load-carrying attachments belong on the web, or wrapped with a longitudinal fillet, and where an attachment truly must cross a flange it needs a doubler spreading load out past the heat-affected zone.
Location: All work is performed at our Yorba Linda facility. We do not offer mobile, roadside, or fleet route service.
02
What the job includes
- Certified structural welding on steel and aluminum
- Frame rail, crossmember, and outrigger repair and section replacement
- Reinforcement and gusseting at known stress risers
- Custom bumper, rack, and carrier fabrication
- Hitch receiver, gooseneck, and pintle fabrication and installation
- Equipment mounting for fleet, utility, and mobile business vehicles
- Skid plate, rock slider, and underbody protection fabrication
- Cargo tie-down, E-track, and D-ring mounting
- Cracked weld repair and rework of failed prior repairs
- Doubler and load-spreading plate design where an attachment must cross a frame flange
- Fixture and jig fabrication so repeated or mirrored parts come out identical
- Corrosion treatment and coating of all repaired structure
03
When you need this service
- A visible crack at a weld, a hanger, or a frame junction
- A previous weld repair that has cracked again at the same place
- A bumper, rack, or carrier that has begun to sag or move under load
- A hitch receiver with elongated bolt holes or visible flex
- Equipment mounting that has worked loose from vibration
- A need for a mount or bracket that does not exist as a bolt-on part
- A bead run crosswise over a frame rail flange by a previous shop or a previous owner
- A fabricated part that has pulled out of square or twisted since the day it was built
04
How we do it, step by step
- 01
Assessment and metal identification
Base metal identified and the load path understood before anything is planned. The procedure follows the metal.
- 02
Behind-the-panel survey
We locate wiring, plumbing, and LP lines in the heat path and protect or relocate them before starting.
- 03
Design and approval
On fabrication work you see a dimensioned drawing, the material specification, and the price before we cut stock. Changing a bracket on paper costs nothing. Changing it after it is welded, coated, and mounted costs the whole part.
- 04
Material and stock selection
Wall thickness, alloy, and section are chosen for the actual load rather than for whatever is on the rack, with the finished part sized so the weakest point ends up in the parent metal instead of the joint.
- 05
Preparation
Joint prepared, cleaned to bare, and fit up correctly. Most weld failures are preparation failures, not welding failures.
- 06
Fit up and tack sequence
Parts clamped to a fixture or a straightedge and tacked in an order that balances the heat input, then measured again before any continuous bead is run. A part tacked out of square never returns to square once it is fully welded.
- 07
Welding
Correct procedure and filler for the base metal, with heat controlled so the heat-affected zone does not become the next crack.
- 08
Reinforcement where warranted
Where the original design was the failure point, we gusset or reinforce rather than restore the condition that failed.
- 09
Coating and verification
Every repaired or fabricated area is cleaned, primed, and coated against corrosion, with spatter removed first because spatter holds moisture and starts rust underneath the coating. Load-carrying parts are then checked under load before the vehicle leaves.
05
Pricing and posted rates
| Item | Rate or range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Typical job range | $750 to $20,000+ | Varies with extent of damage and parts availability |
| Shop hours | 5 to 80+ | Quoted after teardown, not before |
| Body and paint labor | $210 per hour | 2026 posted rate |
| Paint supplies | $55 per paint hour | Calculated automatically on every estimate |
| Body supplies | $5 per body hour | Calculated automatically on every estimate |
| Parts | 100% markup under $100, 35% over | Special order parts require a non refundable deposit at order |
| Deposit | 50% at authorization over $2,000 | Additional 25% when parts arrive on jobs over $10,000 |
| Sales tax | 7.75% on parts and materials | Labor is not taxed |
Insurance billed jobs may be billed at carrier negotiated labor rates that differ from the posted retail rates above. See all posted rates.
07
Vehicles we do this work on
Vehicle
Utility Trailers
A utility trailer is an open deck on a welded frame with fenders, a ramp gate, and lighting, and it fails through deck rot, frame
Vehicle
Toy Hauler Trailers
A bumper pull toy hauler carries cargo behind the axles on a ball hitch, which is the worst possible combination for tongue weight
Vehicle
Standard Fifth Wheels
A fifth wheel couples to a hitch in the truck bed through a kingpin and pin box, with a raised forward bedroom over the truck. The
Vehicle
Box Trucks
Box trucks put a separately built cargo body on a cab chassis, and the joint between them is where most failures start. Rear frame
Vehicle
Sprinter Vans
Mercedes Sprinter vans run last-mile routes, trade service, and camper conversions across Southern California. Sliding door tracks
Vehicle
Off-Road and Expedition RVs
Expedition RVs mount a composite habitat box on a four wheel drive truck chassis, usually through a torsion-free three or four poi
Vehicle
Flatbed Trucks
Flatbed trucks carry unprotected loads on an open deck, so the deck, headboard, rub rails, and stake pockets take the damage rathe
08
Questions about structural welding and fabrication
Frequently asked questions
Do you weld aluminum as well as steel?
Yes, and to different procedures. Aluminum welded with a steel mindset cracks at the heat-affected zone, typically within a year. Base metal identification is the first step on every job for exactly this reason.
Can you build a custom bumper or rack for my rig?
Yes. Custom bumpers, racks, carriers, skid plates, and equipment mounts are fabricated in house. You see the design and the price before we cut material.
My previous weld repair cracked again. Can you fix it properly?
Usually, and it typically means the original repair restored the condition that failed rather than addressing why it failed. We grind the failed weld out, correct the preparation, and reinforce so the load is carried differently.
Is this work insurance claimable?
Structural welding that repairs collision or event damage generally is. Fabrication of new equipment or upgrades generally is not. We separate the two clearly on the estimate so there is no confusion with your adjuster.
Can you weld near LP lines, wiring, or a fuel tank?
Yes, with preparation. Before the arc strikes we locate every propane line, harness, brake line, and tank sitting in the heat path, then shield them, disconnect them, or drop them clear of the area. Battery negative comes off and the ground clamp is positioned so welding current does not travel back through a bearing, a slide motor, or a control module. Skipping that single step is how a simple bracket weld becomes a burned harness and a replaced chassis module.
Do you provide engineering certification on structural work?
We weld to the correct procedure for the base metal using certified technicians, and we document what was done, what material went in, and where. What we do not issue is engineering certification, because that requires an engineer stamp rather than a shop signature. Where a repair or a fabrication genuinely needs a stamped design, for instance a heavily modified hitch arrangement on a commercial unit, we say so up front so you can engage an engineer before anything is built.
How long does fabrication work take?
A cracked weld repair with access already open is usually one to three days. A designed and built part such as a rear carrier, a skid plate, or an equipment mount typically runs one to three weeks from approved drawing to coated and installed, and most of that time is fit up rather than welding. Anything requiring a frame section replacement gets scheduled against structural repair timelines instead, since the vehicle has to be supported the entire time the rail is open.
09
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More collision and structural work
Ready to move on structural welding and fabrication? Bring it to Yorba Linda.