A couple days ago I was stopping at the end of the driveway, and I noticed a loud roaring/rubbing sound coming from the front end and then a loud clunk. Now, every time when coming almost to a complete stop, I get the same roaring sound but no clunk now. The truck has 126K miles and needs balljoints, tie rods, etc. The front end feels like it's sliding sideways sometimes at highway speeds and will stray in both directions. The play in the steering wheel has also become more noticeable in the past year. I'm starting to get scared that the wheels are going to fall off before I can get all the parts to change everything. My main question is is the roaring coming from the brakes (brake pads, rotors, calipers) or from something else? Thanks in advance guys.

Forgot to mention that the ABS light used to come on every once in awhile, but it has stayed on consistently for the past month or so.

 

You probably wore the front pads down to metal. You need to get that thing in and have a professional inspect the brakes and front end.

 

Yeah, I'm hoping that it's just the pads. I've tried to be easy on it and have been waiting for my off day tomorrow to take it all apart and check. I'm really hoping the rotors haven't been damaged. After I take care of this then it's on to everything else!

 

If you are gearing a lot of grinding then the rotors are shot. The wandering you describe sounds like strut rod bushings. You really need to park it before you or someone else gets hurt from it.