Whats the average?

[DTPar1986]

I have a 1996 c1500 ext cab. Just wondering whats average cost on body dropping one theses? Possibly on a 24/26 wheel setup. If anyone can give an average price I'd have a general idea of the numbers I need to be shooting for. Thanks in Advance.

 

[TxChevyGuy]

Body drop? That's expensive!!!!!

If you have to ask you can't afford it. Just like hot rod custom paint. Don't ask, just let me do it.

 

[Needs15]

If your paying a shop to do it, I'm thinking your gonna be minimum $10,000 to $15,000 depending on the quality of parts and level of custom work needed to be completed and that would be just to get it body dropped and sheet metal fab done, then your getting paint work done on top of that. I would think about contacting Stone Fab, GSI Machine and Fab or any of those type of shops who specialize in that unless your up for tackling it yourself. But just remember when it comes to custom work it's by the hour at most shops and can't really give you a quote for that as you don't know how long it's gonna take to do things or what they my run into. Also I'm probably low in saying 10 to 15 thousand dollars unless maybe you use the basic of everything.

 

[TxChevyGuy]

Local hot rod guy who welds using lead and gas torch charges $85 an hour for shop time. He's a one man show working out of his garage. He doesn't do paint just body work and chopping and channeling cars.

When I ran my fab shop I charged minimum $350 with $175 an hour plus actual cost of materials. Which is expensive but I had people booking projects 8 months lead time.

 

[Needs15]

Were you running an industrial fab shop? I've never seen an automotive fab shop have that high of rates, at least up here in Canada. That 85 an hour is pretty standard for the most part on hot rod shops I would think, that's what we were at the last place I worked and we were strictly restoration and some custom work, where we did paint, body and fab. I would think 100 to 110 would be on the high end in automotive fab shops IMO

 

[Supercharged111]

Were you running an industrial fab shop? I've never seen an automotive fab shop have that high of rates, at least up here in Canada. That 85 an hour is pretty standard for the most part on hot rod shops I would think, that's what we were at the last place I worked and we were strictly restoration and some custom work, where we did paint, body and fab. I would think 100 to 110 would be on the high end in automotive fab shops IMO

Labor for general auto repair where I live is 100+, nothing ludicrous about 175/hr for custom fab.

 

[TxChevyGuy]

I highly specialized in a certain Jeep that they don't make much for it. And I also have a plasma table, and a full blown metal fab shopn my just my garage. I had stuff from a plasma table to tig welders to a CNC machine. When guys came to me they knew they were gonna pay alot but in the end I knew exactly what I was dealing with and how to make it work.

That's been a few years ago, but I still make a little side money doing small projects.

The 175/hr was my custom suspension and custom roll cage rate (insurance). My "normal" fab rate was 125/hr and this included things like bumpers, armor and general fabrication work. My closest friends had an open invitation to the shop as long as they didn't interfere with the operations of the shop.

Now I just concentrate on my projects and family time.

 

[Needs15]

That's the same around here for general auto repair but the custom shops and hot rod shops that I know are always less then what a mechanical or even big collision shops charge. This is just what I have noticed. Even at 85 dollars an hour at my old job we got told we were crazy expensive and had customers turn away, mind you half probably came back asking to fix somebody's cheaper repair and it ended up costing them double then if they just brought to us in the first place but that's a whole other topic haha. Also I'm not saying 175 an hour isn't out there I just haven't seen it in a custom fab shop

 

[Needs15]

I highly specialized in a certain Jeep that they don't make much for it. And I also have a plasma table, and a full blown metal fab shopn my just my garage. I had stuff from a plasma table to tig welders to a CNC machine. When guys came to me they knew they were gonna pay alot but in the end I knew exactly what I was dealing with and how to make it work.

That's been a few years ago, but I still make a little side money doing small projects.

The 175/hr was my custom suspension and custom roll cage rate (insurance). My "normal" fab rate was 125/hr and this included things like bumpers, armor and general fabrication work. My closest friends had an open invitation to the shop as long as they didn't interfere with the operations of the shop.

Now I just concentrate on my projects and family time.

Ah OK that makes perfect sense, I spoke too soon I guess.

 

[Supercharged111]

That's the same around here for general auto repair but the custom shops and hot rod shops that I know are always less then what a mechanical or even big collision shops charge. This is just what I have noticed. Even at 85 dollars an hour at my old job we got told we were crazy expensive and had customers turn away, mind you half probably came back asking to fix somebody's cheaper repair and it ended up costing them double then if they just brought to us in the first place but that's a whole other topic haha. Also I'm not saying 175 an hour isn't out there I just haven't seen it in a custom fab shop

That seems really weird to me, because any wrench weilding monkey can change an alternator or read a manual to swap out a part by turning nuts and bolts. It takes real talent to invent from scratch to put something where it never belonged in the first place. That to me is worth a lot more than mere parts swapping.