Vans and Camper Vans
Armored Vans Repair
The short answer
Armored vans carry ballistic panel, laminated glass, and reinforced door structure on a chassis that was never rated for the weight. Door hinge failure, suspension sag, hidden corrosion between armor and body, and impact damage around the armor package are what we repair. Body, structural, and refinish only.
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What we see on armored vans
The defining fact about an armored van is that it weighs far more than the platform it started as, and every failure traces back to that. Cash-in-transit units, secure transport vans, and armored courier vehicles running the LA basin and the port corridors out of Long Beach and Carson carry ballistic steel or composite panel inside the body cavities, laminated glass in every opening, and reinforced door structure. The doors alone can weigh several times what the factory hinge and check strap were designed to carry, and hinges are the number one thing we replace on these.
The second issue is what happens between the armor and the body. Armor panel installed against a steel body creates a captured cavity, and any moisture that gets in there does not get out. On coastal and port-area routes the salt load is constant, and we find corrosion blooming behind armor panel on units where nothing is visible from either side. It is the same galvanic and crevice corrosion mechanism we deal with on coastal trailers, but it is hidden behind something nobody removes casually. On any armored van that comes in for collision work we inspect the captured cavities in the damage area rather than assuming.
Repair scope on these has a firm boundary and we state it plainly. We perform body, structural, panel, door, hinge, corrosion, and refinish work on the vehicle. We do not fabricate, modify, certify, or rate ballistic protection, and we do not represent any repair as restoring a protection level. If a repair area involves the armor package, we coordinate with the operator so the armor work goes to whoever holds that responsibility, and we handle everything around it.
Location: All work is performed at our Yorba Linda facility. We do not offer mobile, roadside, or fleet route service.
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What makes this vehicle different
- Gross weight far above the donor platform rating, loading suspension, hinges, and body mounts continuously
- Ballistic panel installed inside body cavities, creating captured spaces that trap moisture
- Doors weighing several times factory spec, overwhelming original hinges and check straps
- Laminated glass in every opening, adding weight at the top of the door and increasing hinge leverage
- Reinforced floor and roof structure that changes how impact energy travels through the body
- Route profile concentrated in dense urban stops and port corridors with high salt exposure
- Downtime cost that includes crew and route coverage, not just the vehicle
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What actually fails, and why
Door hinge failure and sag
Armored doors carry weight the factory hinge was never rated for, and every cycle loads the pin. Hinges elongate, the door drops, the latch stops meeting the striker, and crews begin forcing it, which then damages the aperture as well as the hardware.
Hidden corrosion behind armor panel
Armor installed against the body creates a captured cavity that traps moisture. Salt-laden air on port and coastal routes accelerates it. The corrosion is invisible from both sides and is usually found only when a repair opens the area for another reason.
Suspension sag and body mount stress
Sustained operation at or above weight rating settles the suspension and loads the body mounts. Symptoms show as ride height loss, uneven tire wear, and doors that fit differently loaded versus empty, which is a structural finding rather than an alignment complaint.
Impact damage complicated by reinforced structure
Reinforced floors and pillars do not deform the way the donor platform expects, so impact energy travels further before it dissipates. Damage frequently appears at a mount or seam well away from the strike point, and a visual-only assessment misses it.
Rear and side door aperture distortion
Heavy doors plus reinforced structure plus route vibration works apertures out of square over years. It reports as a door that has to be pulled hard to latch, and correcting the hardware without measuring the aperture just resets the clock.
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Services we perform on armored vans
Service
Collision Repair
Collision repair restores a vehicle to pre-loss structure, fit, and finish after an impact. On RVs and vans that means laminated s
Service
Frame and Structural Repair
Frame and structural repair corrects bent rails, cracked welds, failed outriggers, and out-of-square cage on RVs, trailers, and co
Service
Structural Welding and Fabrication
Certified in-shop welding and fabrication on steel and aluminum structure. Covers frame repair, custom bumpers and racks, reinforc
Service
Rust Treatment and Anti-Corrosion Coating
Rust treatment mechanically removes active corrosion, converts or encapsulates the sound pitted metal that remains, and applies pr
Service
Rear Barn Door Service and Latch Repair
Rear barn door service covers sagging doors, worn hinge pins, failed latches and rotary strikers, check straps, and hold-open hard
Service
Suspension Service, Leaf Torsion and Air Ride
Suspension service covers leaf spring, equalizer, shackle, torsion axle, and air ride repair on trailers, vans, and truck chassis.
Service
Paint and Refinish
Full paint and refinish strips, corrects, primes, and resprays the exterior of an RV, van, trailer, or fleet vehicle in single-sta
Service
Body Panel Repair and Replacement
Body panel repair and replacement covers sidewall sections, compartment doors, skirting, roof caps, and sheet metal on RVs, vans,
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Questions about armored vans
Frequently asked questions
What does armored van body repair cost?
Door hinge replacement with aperture correction runs $2,200 to $6,500 per door because the doors have to be supported, removed, and reset rather than adjusted. Corrosion remediation behind armor panel starts around $3,500 and depends entirely on extent. Body and paint labor is $210 per hour plus materials. A paid collision estimate is required before scheduling.
Do you work on the armor itself?
No. We do body, structural, door, hinge, corrosion, and refinish work on the vehicle. We do not fabricate, modify, certify, or rate ballistic protection, and we make no representation about protection levels after any repair. Where a repair area involves the armor package, we coordinate so that portion goes to whoever holds responsibility for it and we handle everything around it.
How do we plan downtime on a secure transport unit?
Bring us the route coverage constraint at intake. Hinge and door work is typically three to six working days. Structural correction runs two to four weeks. Because these units are frequently single-purpose and hard to substitute, we sequence the work so anything that keeps the vehicle out of service happens in one block rather than across multiple visits.
Our doors sag on every unit in the fleet. Is that normal?
It is common, and it is a design consequence rather than a defect. Factory hinges carry armored doors well outside their intended load. The durable answer is reinforced hinge mounting rather than repeated replacement of the same part. We fabricate and install reinforced mounts in-shop, which is a longer conversation than a hinge swap but stops the recurring cycle.
Can you find corrosion before it becomes structural?
Partially. Our pre-trip body and structural inspection covers accessible structure, mounts, seams, and welds. Corrosion inside captured armor cavities cannot be assessed without opening the area, so we tell you what we can and cannot see rather than certifying something we did not inspect. On coastal and port route units, opening the cavities periodically is worth the labor.
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Bring your armored vans to the shop in Yorba Linda.