Need help with front end noise

Okay, this one has me stumped. I figured it's time to tap into the wealth of knowledge on this forum. I picked up this 97 SR-5 a couple months ago and I'm going through it a little at a time. I don't have a lot of spare time or money, so bit by bit, I'm getting some things knocked out. I've noticed a "clang" coming from the right front wheel area during certain conditions. Just for clarification, what I mean by "clang" as opposed to a "clunk" is this sound actually reverberates, like something is hitting the dust shield that wraps around the back side of the rotor. I changed both front rotors about a month ago because they were warped. At that time, the pads looked fine, so I decided to leave them alone. I've been sitting on a new set of OEM pads that I picked up the same day I replaced the rotors. I greased both front and rear drive shafts u-joints, slip yokes, and the Cardon joint.

Anyhow, back to the clang. Here are the conditions.
1. Start engine, put in reverse, back up (distance doesn't matter)
2. First time I hit the brakes, I hear the clang.
3. Stay in reverse, release the brakes and back up more, hit the brakes, nothing.
4. Put in drive, move forward (again, distance doesn't matter)
5. First application of brakes going forward, clang again. Release brakes and move forward again, hit brakes, nothing.

So basically, I get one clang going in each direction ONLY when applying the brakes. Something is shifting and making contact during brake application and staying there until the next brake application in the other direction. Yesterday, I pulled both front wheels and looked everything over. Didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Figured I'd look at the pads since I was there. Turns out, the last person who changed the pads used both inner pads on the left side and both outer pads on the right side. Thought I might be on to something. Put the new pads on (correctly), put it all back together...turns out that had nothing to do with it.

Now I'm at a point where it is likely something internal. Any ideas where I should start?

Check the bolts on the a-arms.

Lift each wheel and see if there's play side to side or up and down.

Check the sway bar links

Those little buggers can make odd and annoying noise under many conditions. It took the dealership two tries after replacing the front shocks, a lower control arm, and still had noise. After swapping out the sway bar links, all the clicky clunk went away.

Well that gives me something else to look at. I had the front left wheel off the ground today to change the inner tie rod end. Checked out the a-arm bolts and they looked okay. How do you know if sway bar links are bad? Mine aren't loose, but the rubber is questionable. I took it to Firestone today to get an alignment. Went with the lifetime alignment because I plan to change the ball joints and remaining tie rod ends soon. Told them about my problem. They said I probably need to change my front brake hardware. The pins and clips looked fine when I changed the pads recently.