Paint and Body
Fender and Quarter Panel Repair in Southern California
Typical range
$500 to $6,500
Shop hours
3 to 30
Labor rate
$210/hr
The short answer
Fender and quarter panel repair addresses impact damage, wheel arch rust-through, and tire blowout damage on wheel wells, fender flares, skirts, and quarter panels for RVs, trailers, vans, and fleet trucks. Work runs $500 to $6,500, or 3 to 30 hours at $210 per hour plus parts and materials.
01
What this work actually involves
The most common quarter panel job we see on trailers has nothing to do with a collision. It is tire blowout damage. A trailer tire that comes apart at freeway speed on the 10 or the 15 throws a tread belt at high energy directly into the wheel well, and that belt destroys the fender skirt, tears the lower sidewall, rips out wiring and plumbing in the belly, and frequently opens the subfloor edge to water. Owners see the torn fender and think it is a fender job. It is usually a fender, a sidewall section, a wiring repair, and a moisture check.
On vans and box trucks, the failure is more often rust at the wheel arch lip. Salt off the coast at Long Beach, Newport Beach, and San Diego drives corrosion at the seam where the inner and outer arch are joined, and it works outward from the trapped seam sealant. Cutting out the visible rust and welding in a patch without treating the seam behind it means the same panel bubbles again in two years, which is why we always cut back to bright metal and treat what is left rather than covering it.
Fender flares and skirts on RVs are usually ABS or a molded composite, and they are bonded rather than bolted on many units. Those come off with heat and patience, or they come off broken. Replacement flares for older coaches are frequently discontinued, in which case we repair or form them. Big Bear and Palm Springs owners see a lot of flare cracking simply from thermal cycling, since ABS moves considerably more than the fiberglass it is bonded to.
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
- Tire blowout damage repair to fender skirts, wheel wells, and lower sidewall
- Wiring, plumbing, and belly damage assessment after a blowout
- Quarter panel impact repair, section replacement, and welding
- Wheel arch rust cut-out, patch panel fabrication, and welding
- Seam corrosion treatment and cavity coating behind the repair
- Fender flare and skirt removal, repair, forming, or replacement
- ABS and composite flare crack repair with correct adhesion chemistry
- Bonded flare removal with controlled heat rather than destructive prying
- Wheel opening alignment and gap correction
- Refinish with color match and blend into adjacent panels
03
When you need this service
- A torn fender skirt and shredded lower sidewall after a trailer tire failure
- Bubbling paint along a wheel arch lip that flexes when pressed
- Rust-through at the bottom of a wheel opening on a van or box truck
- A cracked or separating fender flare on an RV, especially after a hot summer
- A quarter panel gap that has opened or a wheel opening that is no longer round
- Exposed or dangling wiring in the belly area near a wheel well
04
How we do it, step by step
- 01
Full damage survey beyond the fender
On blowout damage we inspect the belly, wiring, plumbing, and subfloor edge. The fender is the visible part of a job that is usually three times larger.
- 02
Corrosion extent mapping
On rust jobs we probe past the visible bubbling to find where sound metal actually starts, which is routinely several inches beyond what the paint shows.
- 03
Documented scope and authorization
Photographed findings priced and sent to you or your carrier, with the blowout secondary damage itemized separately so it is not lost inside a fender line.
- 04
Removal and access
Bonded flares released with controlled heat, skirts and liners removed, and belly opened where required so the substrate can be seen rather than assumed.
- 05
Structural repair
Rust cut back to bright metal and patch panels welded in, or composite skirts repaired and formed. Cavity and seam treated before anything closes back up.
- 06
Fit and gap
Panel or flare fitted dry, wheel opening checked for shape and clearance at full suspension travel, then bonded or fastened to the original specification.
- 07
Refinish and verify
Primed, color matched off the vehicle, blended into adjacent panels, then wiring function and water tightness verified before delivery.
05
Pricing and posted rates
| Item | Rate or range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Typical job range | $500 to $6,500 | Varies with extent of damage and parts availability |
| Shop hours | 3 to 30 | 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.
06
On the insurance side
On blowout claims the secondary wiring, plumbing, and subfloor damage is itemized separately from the fender, because initial adjuster estimates routinely scope only the visible tear.
07
Vehicles we do this work on
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
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
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
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
Cargo Vans
Cargo vans on Transit, ProMaster, Express, and Sprinter platforms carry trade tools, parts inventory, and route freight. Rear door
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
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
08
Questions about fender and quarter panel repair
Frequently asked questions
My trailer tire blew out and tore up the fender. What does that repair involve?
More than the fender. A tread belt at freeway speed carries enough energy to tear the lower sidewall, rip out belly wiring and plumbing, and open the subfloor edge. We inspect all of it before pricing, because a fender-only repair on a blowout leaves a wiring fault and a water entry point that shows up months later as a soft floor.
How much does quarter panel repair cost?
$500 to $6,500, or 3 to 30 hours at $210 per hour plus parts and materials. A single cracked fender flare repaired and refinished sits at the low end. A blowout that took out the skirt, lower sidewall section, wiring, and belly wrap, or a rusted wheel arch on a box truck requiring fabricated patch panels, sits at the high end.
Why does rust keep coming back at my wheel arch?
Because the corrosion lives in the seam between the inner and outer arch, under trapped sealant, and cutting out only the visible bubbling leaves that seam intact. It works outward again from the same place. A correct repair cuts back to bright metal, treats and coats the remaining seam and the cavity behind it, then welds in a patch and seals the new seam properly.
Is blowout damage covered by insurance?
The resulting damage generally is, under collision or comprehensive depending on your policy language, though the tire itself typically is not. What matters is that the secondary damage gets documented. We photograph the wiring, plumbing, belly, and subfloor edge findings and itemize them separately, because those are the items an initial adjuster estimate almost always misses.
Can you replace a discontinued fender flare?
Usually by repairing or forming it rather than buying it. Flares on coaches more than about eight years old are frequently unavailable. ABS and composite flares can be structurally repaired with the correct chemistry and reinforced on the back side, and where the part is destroyed we form a replacement. It is normal work here, not an exception.
09
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Ready to move on fender and quarter panel repair? Bring it to Yorba Linda.