Clunking/pop noise when braking

Hi. I have a 2010 Prius. Has just over 200,000 miles on it. Every time when I first accelerate from a cold start and brake, I heard a loud clunk or pop sound. But it is not constant or happens consistently. After the first time I heard the noise and brake again, I don’t heard it even after I brake pretty hard. It won’t happen again until after I drive a little fast or take a tight turn or go over some bad bumps on the road. But sometimes even then, the car won’t make the noise.

I may heard it about 2 or 3 times during a 30 to a hour long drive.

I have looked up a few dozen videos about everything from loose braking pads, to bad steering knuckle, to bad lower ball joint, to a bad cv axle. The symptoms that were explained in every video doesn’t match up to what I’m experiencing.

I have spare parts to change out just about everything that I have listed but wanted to make sure what that noise is coming from.

If anyone knows what the problem may be or has any input, it will be much appreciated.

 

Thank you for the quick response. This noise is fairly new. It first start about a couple of weeks ago. I did replace my rotors and pads about 4 or 5 months ago but I never had a problem with them until, possibly, now. Could it be that the clips that hold the pads are loose or something?

 

I just figured out what was the problem. The three bolts that hold the lower control arm and the lower ball joint together were loose. I just put some loctite and tightened them to spec and the noise was completely gone. They weren’t too loose but just loose enough to make that clunk noise.