If I could find a fiberglass camper that was 8', I'd go that way in a heartbeat. I'm only going 9.5' because that's what Bigfoot and Northern Lite chose as their minimum.
That said, I am a bit confused about all the "towing heavy" comments. I know lots of people towing gooseneck horse trailers with living quarters that are what I'd consider heavy (10-20klb). A 5500# fully loaded trailer doesn't seem like it would be in the "heavy" range. I agree that live loads are certainly worth protecting, but I'm not looking to do anything that's unsafe. I just don't agree that the TL setup is necessarily manditory for a sufficiently short extension. I'm a ME and understand about the loads, but there is a difference between 60" and 12-18". Either way, I understand the opinions here and will use them going forward. I will most likely keep the factory hitch and upgrade to a SuperHitch if/when I "upgrade" to needing horses.
Thanks for all the input.