It is usually the first question, and one of the hardest to get a straight answer to: what does it cost to put a K5 Blazer, K10 or Suburban on a new chassis? The honest answer is that it depends on how complete you want the chassis to be when it arrives. The helpful answer is to break that range into clear steps, so you can see exactly where the money goes.
Every Frame-Werx build starts with the frame itself, hot-dip galvanized after fabrication and built to the factory body mounting points of your truck. A bare galvanized frame is $17,900. For builders who already own suspension and drivetrain parts, or who want to assemble the truck themselves, that is a complete purchase on its own.
Add the running gear and the frame becomes a rolling chassis: independent front suspension based on the GMT900 platform, a multi-link rear, steering rack, front differential, rear axle, brakes and brake lines. This is where your choices start to shape the price.
A complete chassis adds the drivetrain. Frame-Werx offers engine, transmission and transfer case combinations from the GM Performance catalog, with the standalone wiring harness and exhaust included in the package, plus the fuel system and fuel lines. This is the largest step in the price, and also the one that saves the most time, because the whole drivetrain arrives engineered for the chassis instead of adapted to it.
One thing that does not change the price is the truck. A 1972 K5, a 1985 K10 and a 1990 Suburban are priced the same. The application only tells the shop what to build.
Adapting a donor frame from a newer truck can look cheaper on paper. The costs show up later as fabrication hours, relocated mounts, custom steering and fuel solutions, and the problems nobody sees until the body is already on. A purpose-built chassis replaces those unknowns with a price you see up front.
The Frame-Werx chassis builder walks through every choice and keeps a running total as you go. Every option is priced installed, so the number you see is the number for the finished chassis, not a parts list with labor added later. If you only want parts, choose Parts Only and Frame-Werx will price your list.
When you are ready, a $6,000 deposit through K5 Squared, the exclusive retailer for Frame-Werx, reserves your place in the build queue. Because every chassis is built to order and its parts are special-ordered for that build, the deposit is nonrefundable.
Chassis are available for the 1969–1972 K5 Blazer, 1973–1991 K5 Blazer, 1967–1972 K10, 1973–1987 K10 and 1973–1991 Suburban.
A bare hot-dip galvanized Frame-Werx frame is $17,900. A rolling chassis or a complete chassis with a drivetrain costs more depending on the options chosen. The chassis builder shows the exact total.
Restoring the original frame can cost less up front, but it keeps the original suspension design and aging steel. A new chassis costs more and replaces the frame, suspension and brakes in one step.
No. Frame-Werx prices the chassis the same for every supported truck.
Yes. You can buy the bare galvanized frame on its own, or choose Parts Only in the chassis builder and Frame-Werx will price your list.
Want the background first? Read what a squarebody frame swap involves or how IFS compares with a solid axle.
