what am i looking for? what front cover? does anyone have a diagram or some pictures for us?

 

this is exactly why VP44 pump failures occur... your lift pumps dies, but VP44 keeps right on trucking. without LP delivering enough fuel volume to properly cool VP44= Failure... hopefully not stranded on side of road.

with an axillary fuel pressure gauge, you can tell if lift pump has failed and take proper steps to fix immediately.

do a search on KDP.... lots of threads devoted to this topic

 

It should be noted that a good Lift pump/Fass/Airdog/etc. and gauge are no true remedy for failed VP's. They may extend the life, but VP failure occurs regardless of these measures.
I took out a "Good Sam" policy on my truck that limits liability to $500.
The Gen3's seem to have their problems, but less costly. I guess fuel Injectors are horribly expensive. The only real bullit proof trucks were the 12V, and most of these are worn out.

 

I have an 02 2500 with about 130,000 miles on it now and am starting to see some of the problems these guys are talking about. I just got is back from the dealer today and it would not pass inspection due to front track bar and upper and lower ball joints on both sides failing. I have also run oversized tires on it since about 50,000 miles. I hear that can have an effect on front end wear as well. Total estimate to replace at dealer was about $1450.00. Needless to say you know what i will be doing this weekend. Knock on wood i am still running the stock fuel pumps. I do have a fuel pressure gauge installed that i watch and my fuel pressure stays above 7-8 psi even at WTO. So i haven't had any fuel issues yet. Like i said knock on wood from what i hear about these things!! I had the ecm go out on me about 100,000 miles. I was able to replace that myself for about $500.00. The dash started to crack around 120,000 miles and now also has 2 cracks in the black plastic trim around the gauges. Other than that i replaced the water pump around 70,000 miles and that is about all i can really complain about with my truck. Fortunately i am fairly handy and am able to repair most of the things myself so i only have about 1,000 dollars in repairs outside of normal wear and tear items such as brakes and tires since i bought the truck 6 years ago. I think i either got lucky or have taken good care of my truck and haven't really had alot of issues with it. Even with all of that being said i think his asking price is a little high and would save my pennies for something 03 or newer and avoid the potential risk of all the problems listed in this thread.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think fuel Injectors on Common rail (03+) are $600 each? If so, a few of those would equal the cost of a VP. From what I have read, this is an issue with some years. I think the 6.7 injectots are even more?
I think 14-15k sounds like a better number for the truck. Worth trying to negotiate.
Good luck on whichever way you go. You may want to find an independent shop to check this truck out.