Light suspension and poorly balanced bumper hitch will end up with the tail wagging the dog (YouTube towing fails). Your load leveler is effectively doing the same thing a fifth wheel hitch does which is put the load over or in front of the rear axle. The problem with load levelers is they are trying to buckle the hitch/frame behind the axle, so as to say pushing the front of the truck down by using the hitch to lift the rear. Within limits all is fine and the rig drives nicely. To put a number on what a modified truck can safely tow would be hard to do. In my opinion the manufacturer numbers are probably not too overly cautious. Remember every manufacturer spends millions of $$$ on r&d to make the trucks we use do what they are supposed to, deviate from that and it's a crap shoot. (Of course by that logic we shoul all scrap our latg cars and buy c7 vettes, vipers or ford gts)
All that said if you want to maximize your load capacity fifth wheel is best and be very cautious (again towing fails)

I owned a 2003 S-10 ZR-2 and while it was a fun truck to drive around town and off road, it was simply too small and light weight to make a safe tow vehicle. I would never have tried to pull an open deck car trailer with it. It was simply too small. When it comes to a tow vehicle bigger and heavier is better and there is nothing you can do to an S-10 that will make it safe to tow even an open trailer and car! Don't waste your money trying to make it work because it will never be safe. Be smart, do yourself and everyone around you on the road a favor and buy a 3/4 ton truck. Don't be that guy!

So the other issue with using your S10...insurance. Insurance companies don’t like to pay out on claims (duh). If you’ve altered a vehicle and are involved in an incident, they’ll look at it and most likely deny and kind of coverage for you. Not so bad if you jack knife and wrinkle your bed side, not so good if you hit another vehicle and injuries are involved.

Just sayin :thumbsup::flag2:

Magic words: Gross Vehicle Weight. Pull into a truck scale some time and ask why this matters (or use the Google for some quick research). You could be fined for endangering yourself and others . . .

The same logic applies to not framing a house with roofing nails or "welding" steel tubes with rosin-based solder.

all good information i was looking for. i would never use a fifth wheel on my s10 or an enclosed trailer. ive towed an open car trailer a few times with it, and the truck handles it just fine, minus the slight lack of power. i just cant justify buying another truck to tow the few times i do.

Does a 5th wheel even fit in the box of a s10? let alone any of the other 3000 things that wouldn't be right with that situation.

no it wouldnt, and i never intended to ever. it was just a hypothetical question. i know it wouldnt work, i was just more curious about the other aspects that were pointed out.

i think it is amazing how many STUPID things and ways you see people towing stuff on the highway. unbalanced trailers, trailers that are not set at the correct height and all the weigh is on the front axle. but to even think you could tow a 2 car trailer with an S10 has got to be up there.
a 2 car trailer would be 5000 to 7000 lb and then another 7000 ish pounds for 2 cars!
I had a 1500 gmc 2015 with a 5.3 in it and a 24ft enclosed with 1 car that was a total of about 8000 lb the truck was rated to tow 12000. THAT is a total JOKE that truck could hardly tow my trailer i mean if it was windy it was all over the road. and trying to go up hills it was foot on the valve covers 5000 rpm to go 55 mph.
if your think about it just let us all know where and when you will be on the road so we can avoid it
if that was harsh sorry but it is just stupid and dangerous

I just have to tell this story. We all probably have them, but someone doing something STUPID, almost cost me a couple friends a couple years ago.
My friends were on a motorcycle ride going down the freeway at 70mph when they came up on a person hauling an old pos trailer full of large rocks. This trailer was so overloaded that he hit a bump and one of the trailers leafsprings broke. The loose piece of leafspring hit the road, bounced up underneath my friends bike, and put a hole in his crankcase. Luckily it did not jam up in a wheel or hit his leg, bit imagine the fun of going 70 mph while spraying your rear wheel with oil!
They got the driver to pull over and he had the balls to try and deny it until my friends showed him his broken leafspring. It all got resolved but I believe someone was watching over him that day, because the were a hundred other ways that have gone, and none were better.
Please people don't just think can I get away with it, use your heads and think about the consequences of your actions.

It's one thing to overload a vehicle and or trailer that is actually meant to tow/haul heavy loads ... it's a whole new ball game to do it with another that was for all intents and purposes wasnt meant to tow or haul