Acid Lab in GTA Online: unlock Dax's lab and make money with it solo

Data checked on November 6, 2026, after update 1.73.

The Acid Lab is a mobile acid lab built into an MTL Brickade 6x6 truck. It arrived with the Los Santos Drug Wars update on December 13, 2022, and its story revolves around Dax and his Fooliganz crew. Its main advantage is the cheapest start of any production business: you get the truck through missions and only pay for the equipment.

The lab is never raided, so there's no security upgrade for it either. The 1.73 patch notes (July 2026) contain no Acid Lab payout changes, only a fix for the challenge to unlock all product names. The figures below come from GTA Wiki, GTA Boss, GTA Boom and GTABase guides: Rockstar doesn't publish official income tables. For how the Acid Lab compares with other businesses, see our ranking of the best businesses for solo players.

Once you're in Freemode (outside any interior), Ron Jakowski will call you. An "R" marker appears on the map near Ace Liquor in Sandy Shores: that's the first mission of the chain. From there you work for Dax: the six The First Dose missions can be played solo or with a crew of up to 4 players.

1. Welcome to the Troupe
2. Designated Driver
3. Fatal Incursion
4. Uncontrolled Substance
5. Make War not Love
6. Off the Rails

In the Off the Rails finale you steal the Brickade 6x6 from a derailed Merryweather train near the Palmer-Taylor Power Station, and the truck is yours for free. According to GTA Wiki, each mission also pays a $50,000 bonus the first time you complete it as host.

After the Acid Lab Equipment setup, all that's left is to pay Matt at The Freakshop GTA$750,000 for the equipment. The Freakshop is a warehouse at the north end of Mirror Park Railyard, and that's where the lab is parked. According to GTA Wiki, you need to be a CEO or MC President (or a member of an organization) to source supplies and sell.

Other routes. The Brickade 6x6 is sold on Warstock Cache & Carry for about $1.45M; sources disagree on whether you still have to pay for the equipment separately afterwards, so check in-game. The mission route is cheaper either way. GTA+ members sometimes get the setup for free depending on the month; current bonuses change every Thursday and are listed in the weekly update.

The equipment upgrade costs GTA$250,000, but you can only buy it after completing 10 Fooligan Jobs for Dax. You get the jobs by calling Dax and choosing Request Work. There are five types: Crop Dustin', Heavy Metal, Liquid Assets, Working Remotely and Write-Off.

There's a 48-minute cooldown (one in-game day) between jobs, so 10 jobs take roughly 8–9 hours of play.

What the upgrade gives you:

• faster production: a full stock in 4 hours instead of 6;
• a more valuable product: $2,095 per unit instead of $1,485;
• half the supply usage: 1 unit of supplies makes 1 unit of product instead of 2 → 1.

Without the upgrade, buying supplies makes almost no sense, so finish the Fooligan Jobs first.

The lab holds 160 units of product. Supplies cost $600 per unit: you buy them in segments from $12,000 (20 units) to $60,000 (a full bar, 100 units), and delivery takes about 10 minutes.

Profit is our own calculation: stock value minus the cost of supplies. Guides give slightly different full-stock values with a product name, so those figures are approximate.

Income per hour is also our own calculation: the stock value (or profit) divided by production time without the daily boost; selling time isn't included. The turnkey cost leaves out the Brickade, which you get from the missions; in months when GTA+ gives the installation for free, only the 250,000 for the upgrade remains.

Daily boost. Once per real-world day you can use the chemistry table in the lab to speed up production. Guides disagree on exactly how long the boost lasts, but the result is the same: with the upgrade, a full stock is ready in about 3 hours.

Stealing supplies. You can steal supplies for free: according to GTA Wiki, one mission gives a quarter of the bar (25 units), and there's no cooldown between these missions. Without the upgrade this beats buying. According to the same source, production only runs while you're in a session.

How to start a supply theft. Call Matt and ask for supplies, or start a resupply mission inside the lab itself while the Brickade is parked at The Freakshop: the supply point is in the left corner of the front section (according to GTA Wiki and GTA Boom). To buy supplies, talk to Matt inside the lab.

Every Acid Lab sale uses the Manchez Scout C bike that the Brickade carries. Even a full stock sells on a single bike solo, so there's no need to split sales. There are three mission types:

Selling also works in an Invite Only session, where nobody gets in your way. A public session gives the High Demand bonus, but other players can knock you off the bike there. Upgrade the Manchez Scout C at a mod shop, since you'll ride it all the time. Before starting any mission, drive the lab out of The Freakshop: missions won't start from inside the warehouse.

Five more missions, The Last Dose, followed The First Dose on March 16, 2023. To unlock them, finish the first chain: Dax will call, and the starting point is next to The Freakshop.

1. This is an Intervention
2. Unusual Suspects
3. FriedMind
4. Checking In
5. BDKD

Each mission pays $100,000 the first time you complete it as host; according to GTA Wiki, another $100,000 is awarded for completing the whole series as part of an organization or MC. After the finale you can pick up the Ocelot Virtue, Isaiah Friedlander's car, from the parking lot for free; you need a free garage space.

Yes, especially as a first business. For 750K you get a lab that can't be raided, sells on a single bike and makes about 239K profit per full stock on bought supplies after the upgrade. Its hourly income trails the Bunker and the Cocaine Lockup, but for a solo player without much starting cash it's the easiest way in. For comparisons, see our Bunker guide and GTA Online businesses, and for an overall plan, the guide on how to make money in GTA Online.

Tips

• Use the chemistry table boost every day.
• Name your product: it adds 5% to the price, the first name is free and changing it costs $5,000.
• Upgrade the Manchez Scout C, since every sale uses it.
• Sell in a private session if you don't want to risk your product.
• While the lab is producing, run Agency contracts or heists.

Glitches and mod menus for "fast acid" break Rockstar's rules and lead to bans, so stick to legitimate in-game methods.