# Class A Diesel Pusher Repair for Eastvale, California > Full body refinish, basement bay, hydraulic slide and high amperage electrical repair for diesel pushers brought in from Eastvale. Source: https://ocrv.info/vehicles/rvs-and-motorhomes/class-a-diesel-pusher A diesel pusher mounts its engine at the rear of a heavy raised rail chassis and rides on air suspension. Repair work involves full body paint with multi stage graphics, large pass through basement bays, hydraulic slide rooms, rear cap access panels, air leveling components and the high amperage electrical systems these coaches carry. ## Pricing Typical range $1,000 to $150,000+, 5 to 800+ hours. Pushers are heavier, longer and finished to a higher standard than the rest of the motorhome market, and that changes every repair decision. The paint is almost always a multi stage graphic scheme with pearl, metallic and clear layers applied over the full body. A dent on a lower side panel is a paint problem before it is a metal problem, because matching a swooping three color graphic across a forty three foot flank is the hardest part of the job. The chassis is a raised rail design with the radiator at the rear or on the side, air bags at each corner, and a leveling system that drops the coach onto jacks. Damage patterns follow that layout. Rear corner impacts hit the radiator shroud and the engine access door. Curb strikes tear air lines routed along the frame. Low bridge and awning contact peels the upper rub rail. Each of those needs different tooling and a different sequence. Owners bring pushers from Eastvale down SR-71 to SR-91 for a shop that can take the full length indoors. Basement bays on a pusher run pass through, meaning a single bent bay frame can bind doors on both sides of the coach. Diagnosing that requires the vehicle level on a flat floor, not sitting on a sloped storage lot, which is one practical reason this work stays in shop. ## Common damage - Rear cap and radiator shroud impact - Torn air suspension lines at frame rails - Bay frame distortion binding slide trays - Pearl and metallic graphic fade - Hydraulic slide cylinder seal weeping - Upper rub rail peel from overhead contact - Leveling jack mount cracking ## Why pusher paint work is its own discipline Manufacturers spray these bodies before the windows, lights and trim go on, using full length masking and long continuous pulls. A repair shop is working around installed glass, awning rails, marker lights and bay door hinges. Reproducing a graphic that sweeps from the front cap to the rear quarter means mapping the original layout with measurements from body reference points, cutting new masks, and spraying base, graphic layers and clear in the correct order so the edges lie flat under the clear rather than standing proud. Color matching a faded pearl is the second problem. Ultraviolet exposure shifts pearl and metallic tones over years, so the factory code no longer matches the panel next to the repair. Spray out cards get made and checked against the actual body under shop lighting and again in daylight before any product touches the coach. Where the shift is too large to bridge, the plan moves to a full panel or full side refinish rather than a blend that will read as a patch. - Graphic layout mapped from body reference points, not guesswork - Spray out cards checked in shop light and daylight - Base, graphic and clear sequenced so edges finish flat - Full side refinish where pearl shift defeats a blend - Bay doors and trim removed rather than masked where possible ## Basement bays, hydraulic slides and structure Pass through basement bays are structural. The bay frames tie the two sidewalls together below the floor, and slide trays ride on rails welded into those frames. A side impact that pushes one bay frame inward by half an inch will bind a slide tray, misalign a door and put the compartment seal out of contact. Repair means pulling measurements across the bay openings, straightening or sectioning the frame, and confirming tray travel before doors are hung and adjusted. Slide rooms on a pusher are usually hydraulic rather than the electric rack and pinion arrangement found on lighter coaches. Hydraulic rooms fail differently. Cylinders weep at the rod seal, the pump loses prime, and a room that is out of square drags one corner on the flooring. The repair sequence checks squareness first, then the seals and wipers, then the hydraulic side. Replacing a cylinder on a room that is out of square only moves the problem down the road. ## High amperage systems and the electrical bay A pusher may carry a fifty amp shore inlet, an inverter charger, a large battery bank, a diesel generator and an automatic transfer switch, all wired through a distribution panel in one bay. Collision damage to that bay is serious because the conductors involved are large and the fault currents are high. After any impact near the electrical compartment, the bank is isolated, conductors are inspected for insulation damage and stretched strands, terminations are re torqued to specification and the transfer switch is exercised through both sources. Heating on many pushers runs through a hydronic system with a diesel fired boiler and heat exchangers at each zone rather than a forced air furnace. Damage to a bay can crush coolant lines feeding those zones. Repair includes pressure testing the loop, purging air from the circuit and confirming that every zone reaches temperature, because a trapped air pocket will present later as a single cold bedroom rather than an obvious failure. - Battery bank isolation before work near the electrical bay - Torque verified on large conductor terminations - Transfer switch exercised on both shore and generator - Hydronic heating loops pressure tested and purged - Inverter charger output confirmed under load ## Frequently asked questions ### Can a full body paint scheme be reproduced after a large repair? Yes, though it is a planned job rather than a quick blend. The existing graphic gets measured and photographed against fixed body points, masks are cut to match, and the layers go down in the original order. Where the surrounding paint has shifted from years of sun, the practical answer is refinishing a larger area so the transition falls at a natural body break instead of mid panel. ### My slide room binds on one corner. Is that the motor or the structure? Check structure first. A hydraulic room that drags one corner is usually out of square because the floor under the room settled, the room frame racked, or a wall member cracked at the opening. Replacing hydraulic components on a room that is out of square will produce the same symptom again within a season. Squareness gets measured and corrected before any mechanism part is quoted. ### Do you work on the air leveling system after a curb strike? Air line routing, fittings, bag condition, jack mounts and the mounting structure that ties those parts to the frame are all in scope, because they are chassis and structural components. Engine and transmission internals are not. If a strike pushed a bracket or tore a line along the rail, that gets repaired, and the coach gets checked for even ride height across all corners before release. ### How is water intrusion found on a pusher with a painted fiberglass body? Painted fiberglass hides moisture longer than a laminated wall, so the search starts inside. Bay ceilings, closet bases, the floor at the slide openings and the cabinetry behind the wet bath get checked with a moisture meter. Roof penetrations, the rear cap seam and the awning rail fasteners get inspected from above. Findings get documented before anything is opened up. --- OCRV Center. 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887. (949) 799-3387. info@ocrvcenter.com. Serving Eastvale, California in Riverside County, about 20 miles from the shop. All work is performed in shop at the Yorba Linda facility. No mobile, roadside or on-site service is offered. Scope is body, paint, structural, fiberglass, interior and vehicle systems work. Engine rebuilds, transmission rebuilds, drivetrain work, DOT inspections and emission testing are not performed.