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No expert here, that's crappy gas mileage, but with that kind of weight I wouldn't be too dissapointed.
As far as the top gear. When I'm on a trip and towing, I'll shift manually out of o.d. as needed if the vehicle starts to lug. Used to have to do this a lot with my dakota 5.2. My brother had the dakota 4.7 on the same trip with similar weight. He kept his O.D. locked out the whole trip (about 400 miles) and I beat his mileage by 1 or 2 MPG. After a few miles you can anticipate what is needed to keep the vehicle moving. Go into O.D. when you can, pop it off to keep your speed up if it gets sluggish on long inclines. It may help. My experience tells me that many people lie about great gas mileage, then again, the few times I've been forced to drive at 50-60 mph on the highway in heavy traffic has given me great mileage compared to 70-75 keep up with traffic speeds.
I just found that accepting the fact that I may have to manually lock top gear in and out has saved a few MPG in the past. I'm expecting my new truck should need a bit less attention hopefully since the 5 spd trans is almost reading my mind compared to the older 4 spd.
GoodLuck!!!
Chief
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