Boozer's pretty well covered it for these, altho it is worth noting that their max tow capacity is 2 tonne, and if you tow at that limit you will use a bit of fuel, and you will benefit from running a larger than factory auto trans fluid cooler too!! The entire driveline is a bit agricultural but tough, and regular servicing should see them last well & handle most things you can throw at them with aplomb, if not ease... We have one, & it has been known to tow a fair bit pretty regularly; it manages well altho it does increase the amount of fuel used - we generally use somewhere near 15l/100 km when towing at/near capacity on marginal roads, not so much on good roads, and in general average around 13l/100 km running AT's.
Do bear in mind that they are a monocoque construction vehicle, ie there is no chassis underneath, everything hangs off the body shell which is built to carry it all on sub frames etc, and it is pretty strong... but it is something to consider if planning heavy/strenuous use - too much heavy or overloaded towing &/or really rough treatment off road might bring on some issues due to that lack of a chassis; altho we've certainly tested ours out without any signs of issues in 200K (yet, anyway...) But if you hafta tow 2t ALL the time, or you might possibly be going over that limit every now and then, it might be better to modify your plans & give yourself a little more leeway - no modern vehicle is intended or built to work at the extremities of it's capabilities/towing capacity for most of its life, and they will suffer if you try/expect it of them!!
The R50 Pathfinders have the same very good LSD up the back as the Patrols run, which helps make them very capable off road with a little bit of driver skill & care picking the right line - even without the need for big lifts (2" is probably the max sensible lift you'd ever want if you still want to use it on road/as a daily driver too - and it gets expensive fairly quickly to do a bigger lift properly anyway!) However, our Pathy has had that great LSD replaced with a Detroit Locker (same as the Patrol Front diff/locker) so while there is no impact from that on road, it makes it even
more capable off road and the locker does make towing a lot better too - you can't spin a rear wheel due to lack of traction, altho you can spin them both at the same time due to a heavy right foot!
You could do a lot worse for a small family/daily driver that has more than just pretensions at being a bloody capable off roader!! Maybe not a heap of accessories at the hard core/extreme end of the range, but you can certainly get alloy bull bars, side rails, long range fuel tanks, basic suspension lifts/improvements, etc... altho a good looking snorkel might be a bit harder to find!
An Ex-Service person is someone who thought enough about their country & how great it is, how lucky we are to live here, to write a blank cheque made out to 'The People and Commonwealth of Australia' for the value of 'Up to & including my Life!'