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Question: Fuel Consumption

Getting about 8 mpg, strong gas smell. So replaced fuel pump, still same. Pump petal like crazy to start vehicle and after 4-5 tries it starts. New van to me but previous owner (a friend) said carb. choke may need to be adjusted. I am wondering if this is all I need to be concerned about or what other cause could it be that gives me this bad gas mileage and gas odor? Part 2: The front alignment is really off so I took it to a national car repair shop and I feel the guy giving me an estimate was jacking up the so called needed repairs for alignment because he did that without looking at the van. Shocks and caster kit per tire. I called him on it about giving this needed repair without even looking at the van and his response was that it is a Ford older model and what was common. I said show me. Started out saying I needed to replace my shocks because this needs to be done otherwise alignment won't hold long. Proceeded to shove down on one side of front end and said did you see the wheel tow a little when I did that. I saw nothing of the kind. When he/we looked at the front shocks through the space by wheel you could see the shocks were not old. Said ask previous owner for receipt for warranty. I don't need shocks, that I do know! Previous owner replace the tie rods and shocks himself. DO I really need caster kit for each tie to get an alignment done and how can one tell?