Well, I finally got around to purchasing replacement shocks. I ordered the Bilstiens from the link a few posts above. I don't recommend ordering from there if you are in a hurry though. It seemed to take a week or more longer than I felt it should to receive the parts and they did't all arrive at the same time.
I got the front first, so I completed them first. I couldn't believe how far gone the stock units were. You could easily collapse them in your hands with no effort. And they didn't rebound at all, even if you pulled real hard.
The new front shocks made a very noticable improvement in the ride and really made the rear feel worse.
Got the rear shocks about a week later. The stockers weren't as bad as the fronts were, but there were obvious signs of the oil leaking out on the shock bodies.
The rear doesn't feel so much improved in the ride, but there is a noticable difference in ride height. I haven't carried a load, not even passengers, so that might feel different.
I'm thinking I'm going to have to change the sway bar links as suggested. I may have bought them to begin with, but didn't find them when I looked when ordering the shocks.
For anyone that is thinking of doing this, it was really quite easy with air tools. I had to use the stock jack since my floor jack wasn't made for a truck -- not enough height. You have to remove the sway bar to get to the right rear shock, which is much easier to remove before the truck is lifted...
ben