“My husband got me into diesels in 2013; he taught me how to drive a manual and I bought a 2000 white regular cab Ford F250 7.3L Power Stroke six-speed from him; from then on I’ve been hooked,” she says. “But I sold that truck back to him because of knee issues and my family is really into GM trucks.”
Her black truck today is a 2005 2500HD LLY named Ellie with roughly 297,000 miles, purchased in May 2020, while her white one is a 2006 2500HD LBZ named Brizee with about 258,000 miles, acquired in September 2020.
“I love a clean black truck,” the Duramax owner adds. “I’m not the biggest fan of white because you see a lot of white work trucks, but when you’re trying to find these trucks 95 percent stock and clean, I couldn’t be real picky on color. I really wanted a grey stone metallic one, but just couldn’t pass up on my white one when I saw it.”
There’s not a doubt the Allison transmission has always made for a great powertrain for the GM trucks. Both of Holly’s trucks are her daily drivers. She loves daily driving diesels, regardless of extra costs.
Although she doesn’t really tow with Brizee, she does plan on adding a B&W hitch for that truck soon. The only time her trucks go off road is down a driveway or parking at a horse show, as she is meticulous about keeping them clean as much as she can. Southern Shine in Brentwood details both of her trucks.
“They do an amazing job,” she says. “My black truck was pretty rough before they detailed it, but then it looked like a totally different truck afterwards.”
Holly also spends her time attending diesel truck pulls with her husband. While she doesn’t participate in the shows, she does hope to participate in vehicle show n’ shines in the future.
“I just don’t feel the trucks are worthy of that quite yet,” she says. “I have thought about buying a LB7 to sled pull or maybe even drag racing mine, but as of right now, it’s just a thought.”
Although the engine doesn’t have a cold air intake, the airflow is definitely improved with her setup. The truck is leveled in the front with an all-new DMAX Store front end (completed with tie rods, lower ball joints, upper control arms, steering gear, master cylinder level sensor, washer fluid reservoir and hose, all-new OEM power steering hoses and a hydroboost brake booster). It sits on 20-inch RDR wheels and 305/50R20 Nitto performance tires that give it a comfy ride. It has also been outfitted with a Merchant Automotive transfer case “pump rub” kit to prevent fluid loss not uncommon with 1998-2007 GM transfer cases. The transmission also has Deviant transmission cooler repair lines. Holly herself added new daytime running light sockets and license plate lamps. She removed the gauge cluster and sent it to Circuit Board Medics for rebuild (the odometer screen went blank), and then she had it reinstalled when it returned.
After getting the gauge cluster rebuilt, she replaced the fog light and headlight switches, the coolant reservoir (as the factory one was black from head gaskets going out, and that bothered Holly just looking at it) and two lower HVAC actuators.
“My LBZ, I’m just now starting to work on,” Holly says.
To date, the LBZ truck has a PPE transmission cooler, a remanufactured Jasper transfer case, a FASS 95 GPH lift pump, a Transgo Jr. shift kit (to improve transmission performance under heavy loads) and an aftermarket exhaust. Additionally, the engine speed sensor and connector, water pump, serpentine belt, transfer case rear output shaft seal, turbo vane position sensor, OEM power steering pressure hose, and heater hoses had been replaced. All of this work was completed by Mark’s Automotive, TriStar Garage, Clarke Power Services and Tomlin Diesel. Holly herself replaced the driver seat bottom leather, re-badged the truck (as it was de-badged upon purchase), painted the front GMC emblem white, installed factory tow mirrors (it had small 1500-style mirrors when purchased), raptor-sprayed the tops of the bed (as it had black bed caps and she doesn’t like a lot of black on a white truck), and finally installed a remanufactured GM alternator.
“I still have a lot of big plans for both of these trucks,” Holly says. “They are definitely an addiction and once you go diesel, there’s no going back. They are worth every extra penny spent on them, no matter how much more expensive they are than a gasser. I never can wait for my next paycheck to buy the next want on my list.”
In regard to performance, Holly says her trucks don’t feel much different from the factory, but she says the Duramaxes still do plenty for her without a whole lot of aftermarket help other than a little tuning and cosmetics. Her goals are much more oriented toward physical appearance and longevity than performance and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
“People like me get made fun of for having diesels that ‘don’t work,’” Holly says, “but I don’t care what anyone says, if I enjoy them, that’s all that matters. They are my street queens.”
800-826-3045
www.arp-bolts.com
Clarke Power Services
866-945-8463
www.clarkepowerservices.com
Danville Performance
317-745-8587
www.danvilleperformance.com
Deviant Race Parts
208-719-0112
www.deviantraceparts.com
877-469-3629
www.dmaxstore.com
EFILive
www.efilive.com
FASS
866-769-3747
www.fassride.com
MAHLE Aftermarket
248-347-9700
www.mahle-aftermarket.com
Mark’s Automotive
615-490-9448
www.marks-automotive.com
616-772-9551
www.merchant-automotive.com
Nitto Tire
888-529-8200
www.nittotire.com
Pacific Performance Engineering
714-985-4825
www.ppepower.com
Red Dirt Road
323-267-0683
www.rdrwheels.com
615-917-3026
www.facebook.com/SouthernShineTN
TriStar Garage Inc.
615-470-8481
www.facebook.com/TriStarGarageTN
Tomlin Diesel LLC
615-791-0902
www.tomlindiesel.com
TransGo
626-443-7451
www.transgo.com