Towing Boat Behind Camper

[jarsong]

First off I have an 11.5 Lance camper. I have had a "Towbar/Step" made for it that fits into the hitch and am looking for some input from you all on load ratings.... It started off as a step because of the Cheesy little step that came with the camper was more trouble than what it was worth. So I thought as long as I am making a step it might as well be the foundation of a towbar. It's 53" long from the end of the hitch and goes into the hitch receiver just like any other. The piece that goes into the hitch is solid 2" and then it overlaps about 12" with a 2" thick wall tube steel that goes the 53" with a ball mount on the end. They welded the two together (Tube steel under solid) and then welded gussetts (I think thats the word I'm looking for) on both sides to tie them together. One set of saftey chain loops to hook the 53" piece to the truck and another out back for the trailer. It's really a piece of art... Anyway, When I jump on it as hard as I can over and over very little flex can be detected in the bar but a little more in the hitch itself. Even then it's seems very minor. I'm thinking about a 3-4K boat out back to try to slow down the truck on hills... (Yea Right). So here's the questions. What weights do you tow behind your 11' camper? How long is your towbars? Doing some STRESS math I came up with a tounge load of about 225#@ 53" to equal the 500#@ 9" or so the hitch is rated for (Non-Weight Distribution). Any help or insight is welcome. Thanks!