Everything You Need to Know About the Acid Lab Business in GTA V Online

How to Unlock the Acid Lab Business in GTA V Online

Here's how to unlock the Acid Lab in GTA V Online: complete all 6 of the First Dose missions.

Over the course of these missions you'll meet the Fooligans, establish the Freakshop at the north end of the Mirror Park Railyard (see it on our map), and steal the Brickade 6x6. These are all involved in the Acid Lab business.

Once you complete the last mission you'll see a notification telling you what you need to do to set up the Acid Lab.

If you'd rather skip the missions entirely, Rockstar later added the Brickade 6x6 (Acid Lab) to Warstock Cache & Carry for GTA$ 1,450,000. Buying it outright gives you a working lab immediately, no First Dose required. The catch: that's roughly GTA$ 700,000 more than the mission route, where you convert a free Brickade for GTA$ 750,000 (and GTA+ members currently get that conversion fee waived entirely), and the Equipment Upgrade and Freakshop customization stay locked until you progress with Dax anyway. We still recommend doing the missions. They pay well and don't take long.

How to Complete the Acid Lab Setup in GTA V Online

Once you complete First Dose you'll be able to find the Acid Lab Setup Equipment on your map, as pictured above. The equipment can be collected from any of three warehouse locations that appear on the map after the final mission (Off the Rails), so just head to whichever is closest.

Here are step-by-step instructions for completing the setup:

1. Head to the Acid Lab Setup Equipment.

2. When you get there, find the yellow entrance to the building and go in.

3. Inside there will be about 4 enemies. Take them out.

4. Find the forklift and start driving.

5. There are three pallets full of acid lab equipment that you'll see on your mini map. Pick them up one at a time and drop them on the large truck.

6. If you take a while doing this, eventually more enemies will show up. Simply take them out then continue with your work.

7. Once you put all three pallets on the truck, get in the cab and drive out the garage door.

8. As you head back to The Freakshop enemies will chase you. Just keep driving and they'll eventually drop off.

9. When you get to The Freakshop the mission will be complete, but you won't yet have access to the Acid Lab.

10. Walk up to Mutt, who's standing in The Freakshop Vehicle Workshop next to the Brickade 6x6.

11. A notification will pop up that says you can pay GTA$ 750,000 to convert the Brickade 6x6 into an Acid Lab.

12. Once you do this you'll get a tour of your new Acid Lab business.

Acid Lab and Delivery Bike Customizations & Upgrades

Customizations

Because they're both vehicles, both the Acid Lab (Brickade 6x6) and the Delivery Bike can be customized. You can access these customizations in the Vehicle Workshop inside The Freakshop.

Our recommendation: fully upgrade the performance of the delivery bike (the Manchez Scout C) since every Sell Mission puts you on it. With full upgrades it's much better and a lot more fun to drive. Performance mods on the Brickade 6x6 are optional. Its durability is the reason to love it (it's one of the tankiest vehicles in the game), not its speed.

Upgrades

The top category in the Acid Lab Customization menu is the Acid Lab Upgrades. This is by far the most important category for the success of your Acid Lab business. Here are our recommendations in order of importance.

Acid Lab Equipment

Like the MC Club businesses and the Bunker, upgrading your equipment will increase efficiency and product value. Unlike the above businesses, you can't just throw cash at it immediately. Instead you'll need to complete at least 10 Fooligan Jobs to unlock it. Once unlocked you can pay GTA$ 250,000 to purchase it.

It's worth spelling out what that money buys you. The Acid Lab Equipment Upgrade takes the value of a full batch from GTA$ 237,600 to GTA$ 335,200, cuts the production time for a full batch from 6 hours to 4, and halves your supply usage (1 unit of supplies per unit of product instead of 2). Put bluntly, running the lab without this upgrade is not worth your time.

The Fooligan Jobs themselves are decent money too: GTA$ 50,000 each at standard rates, with a 48-minute cooldown between jobs. You don't need to drive to the Freakshop to start one, just call Dax and pick Request Work.

Other Upgrades

If you're going to use the Brickade 6x6 for Source Missions (which we don't recommend, see more on this below), you may want to purchase some of the other upgrades.

The EMP Proximity Mine can be helpful and would be our first recommendation. The Ram Weapons are also helpful but pretty expensive so probably should be skipped if you're on a budget.

The Brickade 6x6 already comes with Armor Plating so don't accidentally pay GTA$ 20,000 to remove the Armor Plating, unless you feel like things are too easy and you're trying to make more of a challenge for yourself.

Running an Acid Lab in GTA V Online

As mentioned above, this business runs very similarly to the MC Club businesses and the Bunker. Below we'll list a few ways in which this business runs differently.

Sourcing Supplies

You can either steal or purchase your supplies, and as usual we recommend purchasing. The steal missions trade your time for a little saved cash, and once your lab is upgraded they're rarely worth it.

Buy through Mutt, either by talking to him inside the lab or calling him on your cell from anywhere (no terminal needed). Filling supplies completely from empty costs GTA$ 60,000, which buys 100 units at GTA$ 600 each; if you're only partly empty, smaller top-ups start from GTA$ 12,000.

If you'd rather not spend the cash, you can trigger Source Missions from the supplies corner inside the Acid Lab while registered as a CEO, VIP, or MC Club President, with the Acid Lab (Brickade 6x6) parked outside The Freakshop. If you do run one, just follow the mission objective and use a vehicle you actually like driving.

Boosting Production

Other than upgrading your equipment, you can also trigger a daily production boost once per real day. You have to be inside the lab to do it, so summon it via Interaction Menu > Services > Acid Lab if it's not nearby; the boost can't be triggered by phone. While you're inside, the boost station gets its own icon on the minimap, right next to the supplies and product icons. Go to the area that looks like it has two jars of blue and red paint. Watch the animation for a few seconds and when it's over your production speed will be increased. The boost lasts until 80 units of product have been made or 24 hours pass, whichever comes first.

Name Your Product

One trick a lot of players miss: go to Interaction Menu > Services > Acid Lab > Product Name and give your acid a name. Any name other than the default adds 5% to the value of every sale. Naming it is free the first time; changing the name later costs GTA$ 5,000.

One more perk worth knowing about: the Acid Lab is never raided. Unlike the MC businesses, your product can sit in the lab safely until you feel like selling it.

Acid Lab Business Sell Missions

Once you have enough product, initiate Sell Missions from inside the Acid Lab in the product storage corner while registered as a CEO, VIP, or MC Club President. If you're not sure where the product storage corner is, look at the icons on your mini map.

A big part of what makes this business so solo-friendly: a solo player always gets a single Manchez Scout C dirt bike, even when selling a full batch. One bike, one trip, every time. It works fine in invite-only lobbies too, and busier public lobbies just add a high demand bonus on top of the sale.

There are three different Sell Missions. Two are very easy and one gets slightly more complicated:

Stash Sell Mission

Stash the drugs in five different locations within 20 minutes. Do it in front of NPCs and you may be caught and pick up a 2-star wanted level. Lose the cops by your regular means, or just call Lester and have him remove it. Either way, you can't stash any more drugs until the wanted level is gone.

Paper Boy Sell Mission

Throw the acid, rolled up in newspapers, into baskets at ten locations within a 20-minute timer, with one location showing up at a time. The only tricky part is accurately landing the throw. The good news: a missed throw costs you nothing, you have unlimited newspapers.

Sting Sell Mission

The most difficult of the three. You only have one drop off location, but it's at the top of a parking garage in the middle of a police ambush. The undercover cop cars are easy to recognize: grey or black cars and vans with silhouetted windows, parked in and around the garage, including some sitting on the ground floor.

Our recommended route: shoot the first undercover cop you spot, ride away, and lose the wanted level (Lester can't remove this one for you). If you don't have a regular go-to spot, hide out under some nearby bridges or, if you have plenty of time, in the sewer tunnel next to the casino. Once the heat is gone, head back and make the delivery in peace with whatever remains of your initial 20 minutes.

Is the Acid Lab Business Worth It?

As mentioned above, players are saying the Acid Lab business is one of the best businesses added to the game in recent years, and the numbers back that up. With the Equipment Upgrade, a full batch sells for GTA$ 351,840 once your product is named, costs about GTA$ 96,000 in supplies, and takes 4 hours of play time to produce (production only ticks along while you're online). That works out to roughly GTA$ 64,000 an hour, and closer to GTA$ 85,000 an hour for a batch made with the daily boost running.

The raw profit already puts it ahead of most businesses of this style, but the structural perks are what really clinch it for casual players: the lab is never raided, the overhead is negligible, and one bike sells everything. If you were going to own just one business of this style, we recommend the Acid Lab business over any MC Club businesses or the Bunker. For the live income breakdown and the Acid Lab's discount history, check our Acid Lab business page.

Acid Lab FAQ

Is the Acid Lab worth it?

Yes. It's cheap to start, it's never raided, and one bike sells a full batch. For most solo players it's the best return on time of any business of this style.

Does the Acid Lab supply the Nightclub warehouse?

No. The Nightclub warehouse's seven goods types were fixed long before the Acid Lab was added, so acid never accumulates there. You sell it from the lab itself.

Is the Acid Lab free with GTA+?

The GTA$ 750,000 install fee is currently waived for GTA+ members. The Brickade 6x6 itself and the upgrades still cost money.

Where is the Freakshop?

At the north end of the Mirror Park Railyard in East Los Santos. See it on our map.

Can I run the Acid Lab completely solo?

Yes. A solo player always gets a single Manchez Scout C for Sell Missions, even on a full batch, and everything works in invite-only lobbies.

How do I summon the Acid Lab?

Interaction Menu > Services > Acid Lab. From there you can request the Brickade, enter the lab, or set your product name.