First: CV joint. Without a doubt. Could be loose bolts, could be dry,
could be failing.  But the noise you're describing is doubtless a CV joint.

Brake work could cause the noise to subside by putting a bit of constant
load on the shaft.  A bit of brake drag (common with properly adjusted
new shoes) make it so the shaft is never 'floating'. It always has a bit
of a load on it. In my observation, CVs make a bit more noise in no load
situations. No load allows the pieces to rattle around a bit.

Jim

The Bus Depot wrote:

>However I can't see how doing the brake work
>would have caused the noise to subside for a while if this is what it
>was.
>
>