I've been towing with a 1 ton GMC van for 15 years. Most of the maintenance items have had to do with sitting around too much (cracked tires, sticky calipers, exhaust). Loaded to the rails it pulls a 3,000# open trailer car combo with no effort. The only thing that ever let me down was an idler pulley on the way home from Mid-Ohio.

When racing with an open trailer, the advantages of a full size van are many.