Howdy
The following is my opinion and is based on owning several of these types of trucks over the years.
Any and all suspension parts(ball joints, tie rod ends, idler arm, ect) MOOG is the best hands down. Speaking of that....make sure and check your idler arm and ball joints as they have chronic wear issues.
Brake pads- I would stay away from the super hard ceramic pads as they can eat up your disc and also can be noisy and sensitive to dust and moisture. I use Car-quest Gold line as my son works at Car-quest
IMHO, if you can afford it I would replace the caliper as well. If they have never been done then there is a good chance that when you squeeze them open to replace the pads it will scar the inside of the piston and that will cause a problem in the future.
Shock- Bilstien hands down the best, period! expensive but they will give a real world noticeable difference and have lifetime warranty. The only exception to this is that you might want to go with a coil over shock to help with the typical chevy SUV butt-sag.
Check the seals in the rear drums, these can start leaking over years and cause your rear pads to deteriorate.
Hope this helps!
Good luck!
1996 Chvy 3500 CCDWLB 6.5 Heathed, NO vac, marine injctrs, ARB bumper, BIG pipe, 3" lift, bright lights, bypass oil system.
1986 Chvy 6.2 M1009 blazer RAM AIR, Headers, Custom interior
2001 Chinook RV, V10 gas
1974 John Deere 1530 diesel tractor
1993 John Deere 455 Diesel lawn mower
1967 GTO, 1989 Honda Transalp
2009 VW Jetta TDI, flashed and piped, 6speed, fun car!
1998 6.5 suburban, stock, daughter's
1993 6.5 3500 CCSWLB GM8, Heathed, big exhaust, gauges, Son's
1984 6.2 ATS turbo 3500, SCDWLB - Son's
3 kids, 1 wife, 1 dog
Gunsmith, Tactics Instructor, Fabricator USMC 87-93 Semper Fi!