Expert: Ernie - 8/26/2006

Question
I've worked in auto body repair for 25 years at a dealership. Even though I can repair anything from a little scratch to extensive frame damage. I never learned estimating entirely. I'm now working on my own, but none of the estimating books tell you what to use for setup time on a frame machine I know about how long the actual pull will take but is there a rule of thumb for set up time.

Answer
Depending on your relationship with the ins. co. if you are doing ins. work generally 1.5 to 2.0 set up is standard.If you have a more complicated frame rack the manufacturer of the equipment can give you the documentation as far as required set up time.I currently use a Brewco rack which only takes 5 minutes to set up,so we usually only ask for 1.5 set up.Very rarely do we ever pull a full frame, but when we do it`s usually 2.5 because it`s more involved.If you don`t get your full set up you can make it up somewhere else in the repair.Also if you have a computerized measuring system this is also extra set up ,usually.5.