Towing w/out weight dist -- am I being too conservative?

I'm amazed at the amount of rust and overall damage on a six year old hitch, especially at the price the ProPride comes in at...

By comparison, my Reese Dual Cam has almost no signs of its age aside from some surface rust on the bars where the paint chipped away. but it also has no actual moving parts.

For the original question... you should be fine with the shorter wheelbase trailer, but I'd still use it for sway control.