iirc, when you can't recover your body and exit, only the body with the highest value of items equipped is saved. Bear that in mind when equipping (valuable) rares to attempt to get back your primary itemset.
If the right body is on the ground, but you can't equip the items, clear some space in your inventory; anything you can't equip should be moved into your inventory space. I don't know if the MXL expanded inventory makes a difference (eg space in the bottom right vs top left corner).