i have an el with standard tickford suspension and every 1.5 years, the shockers go on me. ive had 2 pairs of monroe and 1 gabriel. now the gabriels are making noise. just wondering if the pricks keep giving me standard height shocks instead of smaller ride height shocks?

Dont f**k around just go to a specialist place and get Konis/Bilsteins and all your problems will be fixed and you'll have a better ride.
You've probably spent more on standard/crap shocks than the Konis and Bilsteins put together