Great post @Zed been thinking about this a lot recently and with 50 drives I think it’s time for some experimentation.
Driving the Jeep Gladiator Sandrunner (Mojave in USA) its already packing a few hundred kilos of extra weight vs a Wrangler between the bed, reinforced frame and larger axles.
I often find on larger climbs in 4hi I’m running out of RPM in first and torque in second, with 31 inch tires.
The Mojave has a 2.71:1 transfer case allowing up to 70kmh speeds (50mph)
might be time to find tall dune for some experiments.