Yeah - that's a pretty good summary.
The cal's don't have the extended length that the Bils do, I think it was 9.75" of travel, almost the 10" of travel the bils gave, and more than the 9" of travel the OEM's gave...whereas the Cal's extended length was 24", and the Bils extended length was 26".
As a little shock travel = alot of wheel travel, due to how far inboard the shock mounts are...even that 0.75" of travel over stock that the Cal's do give is useful...just like the extra 0.25" of travel for the Bils over the Cal's is useful.
Of course, the 2" of extra DROOP REACH that the Bils give, means that the total droop of the Bils is alot more than for the Cal's...and as long as the shock can compress to around 16-17", you can pretty much get full stuffage.
That means either shock can work, but that the performance of the Bils will be more useful.
Another good lift shock is the Monotube Rancho, - Its also a 10" travel shock, but it can droop to 29", 3" further than the Bil...huge droop...but, its range is 19" - 29" shock travel, so you can't get full stuffage,and would need bumpstop extensions...meaning you can't USE all of the travel...but, the part you CAN use, is huge down travel.
The down side to bumpstop extensions is that the TRUCK is pushed UP on that corner, instead of the tire doing the travel...which creates a loss in stability in that scenario.
In the rear, extensions are just not a huge sacrifice overall though...as the total travel is pretty good.
The front end is all but immune to shock length limitation issues, as the IFS only moves in a more narrow range, about 7-9" of total wheel travel from around 4" of available shock travel...but is MORE upset by bumpstop extensions, as they rob it of what little ability it had to keep the nose down on compression stroke.
The valving on the Bils, being digressive, etc...is superior to the others for response to the terrain, ride, handling, etc...the Rancho's are a close second though on the monotubes...the old twin tube types being further behind, sometimes including an adjustment on the shock, to tune it to the day's expected shock duties, etc...
The Cal's are behind those somewhere...as in, as stated, they are going to feel better than the universally reviled OEM shocks, for a while...then they seem to go south.
Most people I know who gets the cals are initially pleased over stock...and then start thinking about Bils after a year or two...some hate them as soon as they drive on them, but that's more rare...I think it depends on if they had a chance to drive a truck on Bils first, etc.
Hope that helps a bit.
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