Proper Rear Shock Absorber Static Orientation?

[Dibbons]

With the vehicle at rest and with normal loading, should the rear shock travel be the same in bounce and rebound positions (in other words, in the middle of its total travel)? Thank you.

 

[pnora]

Main thing I look at is total travel of the shock in relation to the full suspension travel. The shock should not bottom out on full load to axle stop and the shock should be able to fully extend to just about full axle drop.

 

[MoparLeo]

Exactly right. And naturally the compression stroke measurement is more critical since it is much more likely that the suspension will bottom out than to top out.
I have attached a spec chart giving you a lot of info. But you can find out about the different shock mounts, compression and extended strokes. And then you can cross reference this to current shocks available today.
https://www.shockwarehouse.com/news/load_chart.pdf