romerk,I am in the same predicament as yourself and have studied this subject extensively for my application. I have an FJ40 with manual steering. My fellow club members keep bugging me that "I gotta get a power steering" but get this. 2 of the members hauled their rigs ( CJ-5 & Toyota p/u) from Florida to Tellico and were side-lined THE FIRST DAY by power steering failures!!! Like yourself,I'm more the "dependability" person.
I recall that all the rigs I drove in the military had manual steering until you get to the 5 ton truck.Think about that! and what kind of tires do most of them run? 9.00x16 militaries, a 34x9.50 tread.
Lightweight rigs here in Florida run the 34x9.50 Swamper tire on ALOT of rigs. 90% of the hunters use 9.00x16 directional tread on their fullsizes. They do okay in the Florida sand but they're much better suited for mud,street,etc. The lighter rigs seem to have less problems in the sand than the full-sizes with tool box,dog box ,etc.
I'm considering the B.F.G 34x10.50 or the Swamper LTB (larger lugs)on my application.I understand B.F.G quit making the taller 9.50 and went with the 10.50.That's even better.
I called JT Outfitters(Specialize in FJ's) in North Carolina and asked them how the tall and narrows worked up there.He said that the narrow tires tend to roll off the rim easier. So don't bag them too low.
One thing I didn't like is on a club members Toyota truck as a spare. The 34x9.50 swamper had one of the large lugs completely torn off from wheelin'. There's still ALOT of trucks running them around here in Ocala Nat'l Forest. Toyotas,Nissans,Jeeps and such.
In my off-road experience (23 years),the 33-35"x12.50's are a better off-road tire but I'd hate to be steering it on the out-of-state rides I've been on in Monteagle,Tenn. and Tellico (Murphy,N.C) WITHOUT power steering.You know 36x12.50's may be a worthy consideration.I don't think the tread surface is as wide as it's shorter brethren. At least it doesn't look as wide on my buddies CJ-5.
Here's a rig that I really like(second link). He's doing level 4's with the thin swampers. The first link can get you to alot of pics.Click on the FJ40 box and it tells how his rig (pictured) is set up.:
http://home.off-road.com/~landcruiser/index2.html
I've seen too many people run them to say they don't work well. In the Superlift challenge they held in Ocala a couple of years ago one of the main contenders was a Jeep running a stock 6 cylinder and running 34x9.50 Swampers with a locker(s).I'd rather run a thinner tire w/o power steering than create a week link WITH power steering. When you consider some of the most sought after Saginaw boxes are off a pre-68 vehicle it stands to reason it may be wore out when you get it. IMHO
