Power of Pink: Anna's LB7

June 2020 Power of Pink Colin Peterson

As one of the best literal reflections of our Power of Pink section and what it’s all about, this pink Duramax perfectly symbolizes this section that is dedicated strictly to female diesel enthusiasts in an effort to diversify our magazine’s appeal and character and better reflect our audience. The 2001 Chevy 2500HD LB7 Duramax is the first model year the venerable 6.6L common rail-injected engine was manufactured. In today’s world, it’s a rarity when we come across builds around this model year, considering all of the tough EPA regulations that are in place nowadays. Of course, older, pre-manufactured vehicles are grandfathered from the tightening regulations, but as with all vehicles, they do become harder to come by as time goes on.

Background

This big pink Duramax is named Gerty, and it’s owned by Anna Ingendahl, who lives near the beach town of Wells, Maine, about one and a half hours north of Boston, Mass., and 40 minutes down the road from Portland, Maine.

“My truck is large, pink, and in charge,” Anna says.

It definitely stands out on the road, as it’s hard to come by a truck like hers that’s such a bright pink with a massive lift and ride. On top of that, the truck also sounds great and it’s quite easy to see that Anna’s Duramax adds a lot of value to her life as well as the lives of others, both in looks and in usage. Anna and her husband Eli together own a farm in the Wells area, and she uses her Instagram @pinkchevylady to post photos of her truck and the fun she has on her farm. Her truck is fairly accomplished at this point, but she admits she’s still not done building it. Anna has owned this truck for a little while now and it’s still just as fun to own as when she first bought it bone-stock back in December 2018. “It’s pure fun!” she says excitedly. “I used to daily drive the truck but then when she hit 180,000 miles I let her take a break.”

That’s when she sent the truck to the shop to get it decked out further. She’s been working with Eighty Eight Customs, based in Groton, Conn., for a lot of her build (namely the body work).

“At one point, people kept asking where my truck was,” she says. “And I kept telling them Gerty is at Eighty Eight Customs getting her rockers done.” Yes, the rocker panels were recently redone on this truck as well.

Body Work

Anna’s truck was black when she acquired it, so one of the first major upgrades she did was repaint the body to a much brighter color: hot pink. That certainly makes a lot of sense as a marketing tool to appeal to the female crowd, which is part of what she’s trying to do. She’s trying to get other women interested in the diesel industry. Along with that, she had a Gerty emblem fabricated, and it was installed on the tailgate for its namesake. While she did change the front Chevy emblem to pink, she didn’t color-match anything else attached to the body.

“Paint-matched mirrors would be too much pink,” she says.

By keeping much of the rest of what’s on the truck black along with tinting the windows, the truck still looks very tough, while coming off feminine at the same time. The plated steel MOVE bumpers on both the front and rear add a lot to Gerty’s “don’t mess with me” attitude. The bumpers are beyond well-designed for intense off-roading and allow for many great attachments, including chains, hooks and tow straps. Recently, she added Royal hooks to the rear bumper and Monster hooks to the front. Light bars from Buyers Products were also added to both bumpers for better off-road illumination. To make getting in and out of the massive truck easier, she added AMP Research PowerSteps.

Performance Upgrades

Probably the most noteworthy performance upgrade on this large pink beast is its giant rise above the ground. Anna had a 9-inch Cognito Motorsports lift kit with FOX shocks installed, along with 22-inch Hostile Jigsaw wheels and 37-inch Toyo Open Country M/T tires. The lift kit comes preconfigured with all the necessary components to properly achieve the ride height, so it’s quite easy to install. The tires are among the most venerable in the large diesel pickup segment for durability, off-road performance, the ability to hold up in inclement weather, and long tread life, so Anna can have herself some fun on all surfaces year-round.

Anna loves her wheel and tire setup so much that she also added a Wilco Offroad tiregate to support a spare of the same wheel and tire combo. Anna is still upgrading her engine, but she has added a K&N air intake, Merchant Automotive injectors, and an ARP head stud kit. The injectors and cold air intake together rejuvenate her Duramax with a good 10 percent more power, and the ARP head stud kit provides ample clamping force to keep the cylinder heads in check. On top of that, Anna uses a pink American Outlaw Welding 8-inch axle dump exhaust tip. Because of that, her truck stands out for sounding quite awesome as well!

Modesty & Utility

From the work Anna has put on her truck so far, you can see that she’s rather on the modest side in terms of upgrades, and she’s all about making everything count. Having something that’s ready for the off-road is, in many cases, more important than having a boatload of engine and transmission performance upgrades, though it’s good to get your feet wet in a little bit of both worlds. Anna will definitely go off-roading if she needs to, but she mostly has an affinity for good looks. “Gerty is currently a babied truck for daily fun,” Anna says. “She is a four wheel drive though, so I’m sure she can handle mud with no problems. The truck feels amazing on the road since we redid the brake lines, fuel lines, and headers.”

In the future, Anna plans to do more interior and engine work.

“Interior work is the next thing on my list,” she says. “I anticipate more motor work as time goes on. The truck is just under 200,000 miles so that will be a great milestone for us.”

This is all perfect for her, especially if she wants to appeal to and empower the female crowd. Sometimes, being modest with a truck build is the way to go, especially if you’re doing the project on a more of a paycheck-based budget, so she’s setting a great example.

“I want to encourage and empower women to feel like they can be whatever they want to be!” she says happily. “I’m looking forward to keeping things pink. Pink or not, though, we are all just in it for the love for trucks!”

In any industry, gender never matters for success. It’s all about your motivation and passion and Gerty is a great example of what a truck can be when you have a plan and a desire to improve it.