Good reading here. I totally forgot about modern abs, I have not done any hard off roading since I sold my 74 Ramcharger. Does abs work well for going downhill?
More on topic. If you are on a very tight budget, get a gasser. If you are able to put away a couple of thousand for possible repairs and you will be towing heavy loads you can't beat a diesel, the older the cheaper the repairs.
06 Duramax is the best of the Chevy diesels, here is a decent guide on the diesel Chevys
Duramax guide
For Dodges the 96 to 98 12 valve diesels are the easiest and cheapest of all diesels to maintain, and can run on almost anything, great apocalypse vehicles. The older the Dodge the better for costs to maintain here is an equally good guide on the Dodge Cummins
Dodge Guide
For Ford the year 2000 is the absolute best, and all their diesels after 2003 are bad news, each generation of engine gets crazy expensive to repair and very unreliable.
Ford Diesel Guide
All diesels after 2007 have lots of emissions equipment that causes lots of problems.
I'm invested in my Duramax but if I could do it over again I would get a 12 valve cummins/dodge long bed 4x4 xtra cab because I know I could do all the work on the engine myself, on my Duramax I can only do about half.
If you are towing light (6k or less) a good gasser Chevy/GMC would be my choice, the small block engines a very reliable and cheap to repair, the transmissions are good and the trucks can be picked up dirt cheap. I have an 01 Z71 Silverado 4x4 with the 5.3 and it is very easy to work on, plus has dash push button lockers for the axles front and rear and gets 15mpg. My Duramax gets 20 unloaded and 15 towing the 5th wheel.
BTW my gasser is a 1/2 ton 4x4 but I have towed cars on car trailers easily with it, I'm guessing around 5500lbs weight and it does it easily with the 5.3 engine.
Now if you are willing to go really old, the 360 Dodge trucks from the early 70's are ultra reliable, or even better the late 60s Dodge trucks have forged cranks and rods on their 318s, those engines will never break. Or you could go even way back in the time machine and get a 60's slant 6 Dodge, nothing will stop that engine, but they have no horsepower, I have personally towed 2 automobiles over 2000 miles with a slant 6 65 Dodge 1/2 ton a(lots of first gear on the mountains).
One other gas engine that gets good mileage and is super strong and very easy to work on is the straight 6 300 cid Fords from the 80's, buy far the easiest and most reliable of more modern engines. They are slow but have great torque.
