RLHawk,
I have taken my LeMond Buenos Aires (steel frame with carbon fork) cross country with loaded rear panniers and it worked fine. Everything was stock Ultegra road gearing and the same Bontrager wheels that came on the bike. So a road bike can easily do long distance unsupported touring. I was lucky because my LeMond had eyelets on the rear so that mounting a rack and panniers was pretty easy. I have never pulled a trailer so can't comment on most of the posts recommending that you use a trailer. I do know that some trailers have recommended speed limits due to handling problems at high speeds. Several tourers that I met who were pulling trailers commented to me about this limit being a real one.

If I were you the first thing that I would do would be to carefully list all of the things that you think that you need to carry with you and scrub that list down to the essentials. You may not need four panniers.
The stability of your bike will change if you mount racks and panniers. That does not mean that it won't work, it means that you will need to train with the loads some and see what the effects are. I found that my road bike with loaded rear panniers was a bit wobbly at very low speeds but settled down as speed increased. I never felt uncomfortable on steep descents at speed. After a couple of rides you don't even think about it any more.

I am not familiar with the clamp sets for mounting racks that you mention. I have no idea how they work or how functional they would be.

Good luck with your effort.