are these front pads mis-manufactured?

The primary shoe (the short one) goes in the front.
What mike said. Go to www.mymopar.com and in the "Reference" section, download your car's Factory Service Manual (FSM). regarding your same length shoes, two thoughts come to mind, one is that the shoes were relined at some time and the company doing it didnt know what they were doing or two, a previous owner bought two sets and used the long shoes from both.

lastly sometimes I have seen the primary shoe have less material but not by much and unless you line them all up side by side you don't notice the difference.

Blue arrows point to shorter shoe.
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