I know, right? I have an XL gasser 2.7 and it's great. In it's 5,000 miles of ownership it's averaged 20.5 mpg, driven daily. It does not have any sort of unlocking hub for the front axle, not even a vacuum or other internal disconnect, so the front driveline always spins. I've added manual hubs to this sort of system before and seen 1-2 mpg returned. Would love to do it on this one as well, though I know it would also require new wheels to make room for the hubs. I've not seen any offered yet by Warn, however.
Maybe we can see used fleet diesel XLs hitting the market in a few years. 2WD is fine too if you live in the south.
-m