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Hi - I am looking at buying a motor home (van) with a towbar, and want to tow a horse float with at least 1.5 tonnes of weight (max 2 tonnes). How can I tell if the van would be powerful enough/chassis strong enough? the two vans I am looking at are a Nissan Caravan 3.1 Litre with overdrive, 1996. The second one is a 1994 Toyota Hi-Ace, 4WD, 2.8L. Neither can tell me the rating of the towbar, I think they are both Japanese Imports. Any advice would be appreciated.

Unfortunately, there is no data available for towing weights for Japanese Imports. As the Hiace was sold in NZ, we have a rating for that which is 1,500kg for a braked trailer, but no data on the Nissan, although it's likely to be similar. So it's fair to say that your horse float would be over the manufacturer's limit and generally speaking, for a trailer of this weight, a large SUV is the preference. Unfortunately, it's unlikely that any '90s van would be suitable.
The law says that the rig must be able to stop from 30km/h within 7 metres.

Thanks, that is very useful information for me. In truth I wouldn't be towing much more than 1.5Tonnes, as the tare weight of my float is 750 kg and I only ever tow one horse. But it is good to have the legal details so I can make an informed decision. Thanks so much.