You checked all the wire clearances which is the most likely cause. Besides not touching anything are you sure about torque? VPI uses wire torque to get anti-skate, so there is the possibility of wire twisting being part of the problem.
Have you tried zero VTF/zero anti-skate to see if the arm floats perfectly smoothly in this area? If you do this, tape the platter to keep from moving and place a Q-tip crosswise to protect the cartridge from damage. This will also tell you if your re-wire has introduced some torque to the arm.
Have you tried zero VTF/zero anti-skate to see if the arm floats perfectly smoothly in this area? If you do this, tape the platter to keep from moving and place a Q-tip crosswise to protect the cartridge from damage. This will also tell you if your re-wire has introduced some torque to the arm.