Keep in mind that the shock I'll be using is something I'll already have on hand and that this will be a test to see if it will work or not. As I'm not a mechanical engineer by any means, I'm willing to take a shot and see what I learn from the process. I haven't even measured to see if the shock will be too long or just the right length as I just got my hitch back this afternoon. I don't think the shock will be too short.
I'll only be using one shock and it will be mounted in the same line as the nose of the hitch so any forces will be linear to the nose instead of on the ears of the hitch.