Thanks for the in-depth possible suspects, Joey. The rotors and pads are new...I changed them because I thought those were culprits, but the same symptoms before and after. No grooving on rotors before or after. Also, yes I do know the awful sound of bad CV joints; this doesn't sound like it. The backing plate idea was a good one as that may be spot-on...as a rusted-out backing plate made similar noise on my Prizm (Corolla) a couple months ago.

But, this past week was a very busy one at the house and I haven't had a chance to put 'er up on jackstands. So instead I drove the Camry in the hopes of sticking my head out the window to hear better where it's coming from. Amazingly, the symptoms have subsided almost entirely by driving it. Perhaps it was a rock jammed in somewhere that dislodged, I dunno. Maybe the backing plate rusted off and finally fell off, lol. But whatever the case may be, the car stops and steers great...that's what I have been most concerned about. I'll update should something go awry. Thanks everyone! Sorry about the red herring.

 

That didn't sound good... continue updating us I'm learning

 

Yep, that was it alright. The noise gradually got worse over the months, finally took it to a shop. As soon as he lifted 'er up, he grabbed the wheel and watched it wobble back and forth! I missed it all the times I'd lifted 'er up because I always loosen the lugnuts before lifting, so I wouldn't have noticed it. Disaster averted.

Thanks toyomoho and gang!
-Alan