So I'm getting a really nasty whine/rubbing/grinding noise while driving down the road. It completely goes away with the clutch to the floor, which leads me to believe it's the throw out bearing. But a friend of mine said pilot. Any ideas?
There is motion between the input shaft of the transmission and the pilot bearing only when the clutch is depressed. That's when a defective pilot bearing will make noise.
Throwout bearing tend to cause problems when they are not properly installed or someone used a cheap substitute replacement instead of a genuine Ford part.