Rock crawler diesel vs gasser whats better?

Hey everbody! New here and couldnt find a thread on this but in the future i plan on building a crawler out of an old toyota pick up or maybe a beat up first gen but i had the idea of dropping a little 4 cylinder diesel in it. What would be better for a rock crawler a small diesel or a bigger gas engine?

 

Diesel, you can idle over smaller obstacles and you have more torque for the larger tires, plus diesel is more efficient and safer.

 

See thats what i was thinkin to but iv heard a few people say that diesel's suck for crawling but they were also talking about full sized trucks not a little toyota. Would that added weight in the front be enough to take most of the traction out of the rear?

 

I don't think that a small 4cyl diesel would weigh more than a V8, if it does then it's not a big enough difference to matter.

 

Ya iv looked into them and they dont weigh a whole lot more than the v6's. I guess with that short of a wheel base its gonna balance out better than a full size would

 

The cummins 4bt is around 760-800 pounds and the 22r is around 400 pounds. Thats a bigger difference than i thought

 

Out of college I plan on making my current Tacoma a rockstar and would love to put a 22r in it. I mean, have you not seen the Top Gear "Destroying a Toyota"? Plus, Torque>HP when crawling. Low end torque with the right gear ration and all a sudden you're half way up a mountain Gigabit Off-Road style making that Jeep sweat beads. Just my $.02.

Also, look at the videos of 4bt Jeeps. Those things can put down some torque, but don't have the ability of some 2 doors because of their size. I feel a 22r Tacoma with a flatbed would be the best of both worlds and is a dream build of mine. If you've got the willpower, time and $$$ for it, i'd support 100%. Or just buy a POS Hilux, its not like you have to worry about it dying...