I spent years overlanding in a Hilux 4x4, single cab, but I was alone.
I made an aluminium deck which can be locked down to the rear tub, meaning the storage space there is more secure than in the cab. It also meant I could cover this with a normal tonneau cover, which made the truck look completely normal, very important for me. A pickup is also a lot lighter than say a Landcruiser, and pretty much as tough. The rear deck is 220+ cm long, meaning I can strike a standard tent on this, and collapse it easily and cover it with the tonneau cover.
The only down side was that it is not possible really to seal water / dirt out of the rear tonneau, and that there was limited space in the cab. An Xtra cab might solve the space issue, but with the same length of rear tub, it makes the vehicle very long indeed.
As for your choices, my gut feeling would be to stay well clear of such a small engine in such a huge truck. The Amarok is almost as big as a F150, but the smallest F150 has a 3.5 litre twin turbo petrol, and 365 BHP. That 2.0 diesel must be very highly stressed, and I guess very sensitive to bad fuel. A Toyota is definitely the machine to take out of Europe.
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