So I’ve noticed my ‘01 f150 xl two drive is kind of bouncy, when going over roads with patches or some sort of surface damage the front end seems a little floaty.

So I tried a quick test of the front end suspension and I think it looks like there is some bounce when I push down and let up. Is this normal for these trucks or are shocks on their way out?

https://youtube.com/shorts/3W6srvuFQwo?is=qohWDVbWqgwXgohR

 

Looks like it, usually they're not supposed to bounce more than once or twice.

What's your mileage, and do you have the factory shocks still?

 

My truck has 56k original miles, I think the shocks are actually the originals, though the shocks look great, the two mounting bolts on the bottom are very rusty and don’t look like they’ve ever been touched. So they don’t have high miles but they are likely 25 years old.

 

Probably getting near time for replacement then; I believe the service interval for shocks is check every 30k and replace when necessary, and the factory shocks are usually good for ~60k.

So even without being 25 years old, you're getting near replacement time for the factory shocks just on mileage.