Hey everybody,
Still hunting this problem down. I want to extend my appreciation to those of you who have tried to help me out, and sorry if I haven't listened to your advice.
Opie, I will try removing the braces and replacing them. The rest of the bulletin goes on to state that the nuts and bolts on that step are one-time-use (seriously?) and need to be replaced after removal. Once I have the parts I will do it and report back.
Since this issue I have replaced the steering rack (saw there was grease in the bellows, indicating that it was bad) but this didn't fix the issue. I used the old outer tie rod ends because they seemed to be in fine shape.
The top hat bearings look brand new and the shocks seem to be mounted to the steering knuckle tightly, although I haven't re-torqued them yet.
The car makes noise without the skid plate attached.
The noise is pretty consistent at any speed but it does worsen on right handers (I think I mentioned it was really effected by turning right onto a side road with the right wheel getting hooked over a camber change). I am starting to get a more wander-y steering feel and vibration even when the toe is aligned just fine.
I bought new pads and rotors but I don't believe that is the issue due to the changing of the noise during turning. I can
feel the problem a little more during braking but it doesn't get worse during braking, so I don't think that's it for now. Brake service coming soon though, because why not.
I do have a video of it- about halfway through I put it in neutral and turn the wheel back and forth which makes it worse, although you can hear the noise throughout the whole thing. The clicking noise when I start the steering is just some stuff in the car moving to and fro. Disregard my crappy rev matching:
Thank you.