I can't recall where I got this information, but I'm pretty certain that the Cognito/Bilstein H2 shocks (BE5-A937-H0) are longer than the stock ones; but not long enough to be used with a lift kit. They give you more travel for spaced and leveled trucks.
Perhaps I got the info from someone over at Trail Duty (trailduty.com), I know I was in dialog with them a lot when I was making my shock decisions. Their site does list these shocks as: "Can be used for stock height, torsion key lifted vehicles, or vehicles with Cognito upper control arm leveling kit."
http://www.trailduty.com/product_inf...5fcabbd887a720
Regarding longer shocks in general, one thing that comes to my mind (and I may be WAY off here since I'm not a mechanic), but if your shocks offer too much travel isn't there a chance that a coil spring could come unseated at full extension?