Inspection and Maintenance
Annual RV, Trailer and Fleet Maintenance Service
Typical range
$300 to $2,500
Shop hours
2 to 10
Labor rate
$210/hr
The short answer
Annual maintenance service covers seal inspection and renewal, roof assessment, opening and slide operation, running gear checks, and a documented condition report. It runs $300 to $2,500, or 2 to 10 hours at $210 per hour plus materials, performed at Yorba Linda.
01
What this work actually involves
Almost every large repair bill we write started as a maintenance item somebody skipped. A roof lap sealant joint that cracked in the sun costs very little to renew, and it costs a great deal once water has been travelling down a wall cavity for two seasons. Southern California is deceptively hard on sealant: the ultraviolet load is high year round, the daily temperature swing in the high desert works every joint, and the rain arrives all at once in a handful of winter storms rather than gradually. A unit that looks fine in September can leak the first week of January.
What this service is, in practice, is a systematic look at every joint, seal, opening, and moving part, with the small corrections done on the spot and the larger findings documented and priced. We meter for moisture as part of it, because a maintenance visit that does not include metering is a visual inspection with a nicer name. We check tire date codes, bearing condition, brake adjustment, and suspension wear on towables, and we operate every slide, door, window, and compartment through full travel.
For fleet operators the value is scheduling rather than surprise. A cargo van, box truck, or mobile workshop that comes through annually gets its door hardware, seals, racking anchors, and body corrosion caught while they are cheap, and the vehicle goes out of service on a date you chose. We can batch a fleet across several weeks so you never lose more than a couple of units at a time. Everything happens at our facility, and we do not run route or on-site work.
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
- Full roof inspection including membrane, penetrations, and lap sealant renewal
- Every exterior seal and joint inspected, with minor sealant renewal included
- Moisture metering of floor, walls, ceiling, and slide openings
- Slide-out operation, seal condition, and alignment through full travel
- Entry door, window, and compartment door operation and seal check
- Tire date code, pressure, and wear pattern documentation including the spare
- Wheel bearing play check and brake condition assessment on towables
- Suspension, hanger, equalizer, and frame weld visual inspection
- Electric step, awning, and leveling system operation check
- Photographed condition report with prioritized findings and pricing
03
When you need this service
- A unit that has not been inspected since the last camping season
- Sealant that has cracked, chalked, or pulled away at a roof penetration
- A coach coming out of long-term outdoor storage
- Any unit heading into the winter rain season without a seal check
- A fleet vehicle due for a scheduled body and hardware review
- A recently purchased used unit with no service history
- A slide, step, or awning that has started to sound or move differently
04
How we do it, step by step
- 01
Intake and history
We record how and where the unit is stored, how it is used, and what has changed since last year, because storage conditions predict most of what we are about to find.
- 02
Roof and penetration survey
Roof walked, membrane condition assessed, and every vent, antenna, air conditioner, and skylight flange inspected. This is where the majority of water intrusion begins.
- 03
Seal and joint inspection
Every exterior joint, window frame, corner molding, and compartment seal checked, with minor sealant renewal performed during the visit rather than quoted separately.
- 04
Moisture metering
Readings taken and recorded across the envelope, then compared against prior years where we have them, so a rising trend is caught before it becomes damage.
- 05
Openings and moving parts
Slides, doors, windows, compartments, steps, and awnings operated through full travel, with alignment and seal contact checked at each.
- 06
Running gear check
Tires read for date code and wear, bearings checked for play, brakes assessed, and suspension and frame welds inspected from underneath on towables.
- 07
Report and prioritization
Findings photographed and sorted into what was corrected today, what should be scheduled before the next trip, and what can reasonably wait a season.
05
Pricing and posted rates
| Item | Rate or range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Typical job range | $300 to $2,500 | Varies with extent of damage and parts availability |
| Shop hours | 2 to 10 | 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
Class A Gas Motorhomes
A Class A gas motorhome is a flat-front coach built on a Ford F53 or Workhorse front-engine chassis, typically 28 to 38 feet. Rear
Vehicle
Class C Motorhomes
A Class C is a coach body built onto a cutaway van chassis with a sleeping or storage cabover extending above the factory cab. Tha
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
Travel Trailers
A travel trailer tows from a ball hitch behind the tow vehicle rear axle on an A-frame tongue, which makes it the most sway-prone
Vehicle
Cargo Vans
Cargo vans on Transit, ProMaster, Express, and Sprinter platforms carry trade tools, parts inventory, and route freight. Rear door
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
Food Trucks
Food trucks combine cooking heat, grease, water, propane, and a generator inside a box that also has to survive freeway travel. Fl
08
Questions about annual maintenance service
Frequently asked questions
How much does annual RV maintenance service cost?
It runs $300 to $2,500, or 2 to 10 hours at $210 per hour plus materials. A small trailer with sound seals sits near the low end. A large multi-slide coach requiring extensive lap sealant renewal, full running gear assessment, and documented moisture mapping sits at the high end. Larger findings are priced separately and never performed without your approval.
How often should an RV be inspected in Southern California?
Annually at minimum, and ideally in the fall before the winter storms arrive. Our ultraviolet load runs year round and the daily temperature swing in the high desert works every sealant joint constantly, so a unit that looked perfect in September can leak in January. Units stored uncovered in the desert benefit from a twice-yearly look.
Is this the same as a pre-purchase inspection?
No. The pre-purchase inspection is a deeper, buyer-focused assessment with a written report built for negotiation, and it includes prior repair detection and extensive moisture mapping. Annual maintenance is a condition review with minor corrections performed during the visit. Owners of a newly purchased used unit often want the pre-purchase inspection first and maintenance after.
Do you do fleet maintenance scheduling?
Yes. Cargo vans, box trucks, food trucks, and mobile workshop vehicles come through on annual schedules, and we batch a fleet across several weeks so you never have more than a couple of units out of service at once. All work is performed at our Yorba Linda facility. We do not offer route or on-site service.
What is not included in this service?
We do not perform engine, drivetrain, or transmission work, and we do not perform DOT inspections. Our scope is body, structure, seals, openings, and running gear on towables and vans. Anything we find outside our scope goes in the report with a plain description so you can take it to the right shop rather than being left guessing.
09
Related services
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Window Reseal and Replacement
Window service covers resealing leaking frames, replacing failed butyl, reglazing fogged dual pane units, and full window replacem
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Slide-Out Seal and Gasket Replacement
Slide-out seal replacement renews the bulb, wiper, and D-seals that keep water and dust out of the slide opening. Compression set
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Pre-Trip Body and Structural Inspection
A pre-trip inspection checks the items that strand people: tires and date codes, bearings, brakes, seals, slides, hitch, and frame
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Wheel Bearing Repack and Hub Service
Wheel bearing service covers cleaning, inspection, repacking, and seal replacement on trailer and towable hubs, plus race and bear
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More inspection and maintenance work
Ready to move on annual maintenance service? Bring it to Yorba Linda.