Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply -- great group of guys you've got here!
If Bilstein made shocks specifically set-up for this application (like most other vehicles out there), then I'd just buy a set and be done with it; they're quality at a fine price. Unfortunately, they, nor any other aftermarket manufacturer make it that simple. Therein lies the problem...
As aforementioned in the original post, the same shocks find themselves under a wide variety of GM trucks that are rather disparate when it comes to weight. Take my Suburban, and put it up against a newer Duramax pickup, the latter is somewhere in the neighborhood of 35%-40% heavier on the front axle. It's going to be exceedingly difficult for a shock that's valved acceptably for the diesel truck to deliver smoothness we seek here.
Right now, I have a set of Monroe Gas Magnums on the truck, and frankly, they're quite poorly designed for the Burb. Front is too stiff, and back is too soft (more on that in a second).
The most interesting thing so far was to take a look at what GM did from the factory...
Rear was a monotube, which I think would address much of the inadequacies I've observed with the Gas Magnum; excessive sway in rear when unloaded (when each rear tire hits an obstacle independently), and excessive lateral movement/sag in the rear when towing heavy. Whether Bilstein or some other quality monotube, I think it'd be the way to go.
When you play around with all the varying configurations/years for the front though, you'll see that unlike the aftermarket (one part for everything), different shocks were spec'd for varying configurations/years. They're all the same design (basic twin-tube), but valved differently.
