Are the ball joints easy to replace on an 86Z? Would they cause the outer edge of the front tires to wear? Are they expensive? Any help would be appreciated.

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86 Z28
LG4 rebuilt tired again
Worn out 700R4
Have 400 short block waiting for a rebuild still planning it out

 

I have done just about everything to my car(engine swap, rear end rebuild, tranny swap)....but the one thing I decided against was to replace my ball joints. To many special tools required and I got a good quote from a shop. Just go to the autopart store and pick up some MOOG ball joints(the are higher quality then the other I looked at just visually) and take it to a shop. just my $.02
ps. another factor in that decision was that I did all those project over the summer and now at school I have a very very very limited time to play with my car.

 

Ball joints themselves are fairly inexpesive,$25 each, but as said in the earlier post, a bit much for most guys to do at home. Usually you need a ball joint press & the spring has to come out.
To check all your steering & suspension parts yourself, in order to determine what needs replacing, is to jack up one front wheel at a time. Have a helper, just turn the steering wheel slightly, while you observe all the steering linkage. You're looking to see that there is no slop in the linkage that has to be "taken up" before the tire starts to turn. For ball joints have your helper try to shake the tire that's off the ground, in & out by holding the top & bottom of the tire. You observe the ball joint for any inward/outward motion. None should be visable if the ball joint is tight.
Outside edge tire wear could be excessive positive camber or incorrect toe-in, both being front end alignment adjustments.
Regards, FJK