Not sure about your part of the country, but those prices seem high. I picked up a regular cab 2wd 2008 with 85,000 miles on it in like new condition for 18 out the door in 2011.

Class6 is giving you some solid advice if you do stick with the second gen.

Go west young man you will find it.

The pickings for a decent truck would certainly steer me in the direction South or SW......I have a N.H. rust bucket presently. Class6 thanks for the offer!
I like the automatic 3500 I posted up earlier, it's a FL. truck & rust free but 24K ???........I have all winter and Texas trucks seem to have an ever ending
amount of clean trucks, but where are all the 2nd gen dodge 3500 rams?......I will travel cause I don't think a clean one is lurking under my nose (In the NE)

While in general I'm a big proponent of buying used, especially from the south (I live up north too), I would be very careful about buying any used vehicle right now. After the hurricanes that hit, I'd be worried more than a few used vehicles were submerged coming out of Texas and maybe even Florida.

I got as zipcode in North Florida and did 500 mi search found a couple on autotrader

Class 6 is giving you great advice. Look for rust free and Fluid Film the underneath before winter. The brakes are decent on the 02 and up. VP44 just install a good lift pump with extra filtration and you should be fine. Auto trannies are cheap to rebuild and you can build them up to hold whatever power you want. You will probably want a heavier than factory hitch because the oe stuff is fairly light duty. Good Luck! I am extremely happy with my rust free southern 06 5.9 ... You will love the power, it's really like having a big rig engine in a light duty pickup.

yup go mine in Louisiana about 3 years ago for 14k had 130000 mi on it. 2wd 2500 2008 dodge ram 6.7 liter. 2008 is basically when they increased engine size to 6.7 liters. Had no rust anywhere and still had crayon markings on differential plus tags on brake lines. I flew down and drove back. Correct me if I'm wrong 360hp 650ft lbs torque. I pull a 40ft boat with it. At around 150000 mi I had to replace upper and lower control arms. The lower ball joints and bushings were beat. The uppers were still good but replaced anyway. Have 174 k on it now with no engine issues . Runs like a champ . Look for the 6.7 liter

What is a fass lift pump & what purpose does it serve?...and a VP44 is that a standard item on the 5.9 cummins?.....just trying to familiarize myself with all things diesel.
If my search finds a (more than likely) truck out west or south I'll likely do the same fly out and drive home..........I know class 6 gives some good advice, but what
immediate top list of things to check for (in say) an almost 16 year old diesel truck like the one above listed for 24K?....I was thinking, I love the '02 3500's and wasn't
prepared to pay that much........When you think a new dodge ram diesel 3500 can go for over 60K..you would think (at least I would) that a 16 yr. old truck certainly
would not be 1/3rd the price of a new one......I guess they hold there value?...........Also, what's the best rear ratio for towing a 13K boat..4:10...3:55 ???..can you
explain the differences?

3:73 rear is best in that truck. 2nd would be the 3:55. You don't need the 4 series gear ratio. It has plenty of torque

What about my first question about the fass and VP44?.............Also right of the bat what would be the top things to check for in a used truck with the 5.9 ?
I contacted the Fl. truck people and they're pretty firm on the price ..... they know what they have, but I still think it's way high for 2002....thanks I'm learning!