Have you jacked up the car and looked for any bad front end parts? Jack up both front wheels, set it on stands and toss it in neutral. Grab the spring with one hand and give each wheel a good spin. If you feel any grinding, you're bearing is shot. Keep in mind, brake pads gently sweeping the rotor will give a little something you'll notice, too. Check both sides before convincing yourself something is wrong.
Give your wheels a good wiggle. Up and down (commonly bearing play), left and right (bad outer tie rod or really bad inner tie rod.. I'll explain in a sec) and finally grab the Drivers wheel on the lower left corner of your wheel (left being the same side as your left shoulder) by the inner sidewall and the outer sidewall and shake it. Grab your lower right corner on the passenger side to check it out.
You could have a bad bearing, may have a oblonged spindle with the balljoints end hitting an ABS ring or axle. You may have a caliper missing the lower bolt, causing it to push up into your wheel.. This stays like that long enough and it can bend your intact slide pin and keep it pressed against your wheel.
And about that inner tie rod... The most accurate way of checking inners is by placing them on caster plates that move. With the vehicles stationary weight on the outer tie rod, it'll free up the tension a hanging wheel places on the inner tie rod. Thus, your inner tie rod (which is basically a balljoint with a really long shaft) is tension-free, running straight along from your outer to your rack and can be checked for the slightest play.
It can be so many different things, you should stop pointing your finger at your trans and REALLY check your car dude.
Hope this helps!
