is this really an argument?
for sure....my father in laws 05 6.0 was alot harder on fuel then their 03 d max which was always fawing up...18 was about it at 70 mph with stock everything, or the sct turned on economy...
ONLY BECAUSE the fuggers need .5 od for cruising unloaded which most trucks do most of the time.
i know of a tuned 6.0 van with a add on od that runs 23 mpg or better at 75-80 mph. this was done because the sprinter the guy had before was always in the shop for stupid shit and expediters need thier shit on the road. with the add on od the trucks ended up about the same costs, even with its problems i was interested in the sprinter but my wife told me she would shove the sprinter up my ass before she would drive it

.
the 6.0 vans engine caught fire and burnt it down, but aside from that it never had issues....

...and now this same expediter has a chevy van with a d max. last i knew he is still full of glee with that thing.
this isnt much to do with the op, but all of these rigs had oem exaust systems. the 03 has aftermarket now and actually picked up mpg cruising from mi to fla but its around town was down before that after its warranty engine was installed.