Have you considered a late model Land Rover... D2? they are solid axles, old enough that there are lockers and mods a plenty, if you are careful you can get one with a locking center diff and 7 person seating. They are EASY to work on. Suspension has a lot of articulation. They come with off road abs, Hill descent, etc.
There is a certain amount of cachet associated with the brand.
I have had a Jeep Rubicon, Toyotas (pickup and a pair of 4runners), Land Rover D2, and Nissans (pathy and X).
The jeep mildly modded was the off-road champ no questions asked. the toyotas were solid, good perfoming, and un-breakable but ultimately moved too much into soccer mom territory. the landy was a hoot but got I tired of chasing down leaks. the second gen pathfinder was just plain silly-really just a glorified station wagon (the dakar version was incredibly modded before you bring it up). The X... you know it well. It's a good beast, a good compromise, but not as capable as the new FJ or the upcoming 07 4 door jeep wrangler. YMMV.