another fron end popping Q?

OK I have searched and haven't found a popping situation like my own on this forum.
97 Jeep Cherokee
I have recently replaced the bearing in the fron diff (DANA 30) and replaced the brakes in the following order.

1 replaced brakes with fresh ly turned rotors
put about 150 city miles on then a short 360 mile road trip
replaced the bearing in the fron diff
tested for 50 miles on hills, HWY,4WD ect.... sounds great and feels gret
took another 360 mile road trip

as I coasted into town and stopped at a traffic light or two and then got into my neighborhood slowing to about 15mph I noticed a loud popping sound which I could feel through the Jeep. Turning makes no difference in the sound. The strange thing is when I apply light or heavier pressure to the brakes the sound goes away. The first night it would come back shortly after releasing the brakes. Now I can only get the popping to occur randomly afetr I have been driving around town for 20+ minutes and again a slight touch on the brakes and it is gone and then may or may not come back. I am uble to get it up an Jacks in time to hear where the noise is coming from.

The noise is similar to that of a CV shaft going bad except it makes no difference when turning. Anyone ever have a similar experience like this one?

One pop? Multiple pops with the tire rotation? Faster or slower than the tires turning?

Have you checked you lug nuts and any bolts you removed while doing the brakes or bearings?

I only get the noise at slower < 10 or 15 MPH with multiple pops with consistant intervals. Sounds like a U-joint but turning makes no difference. And the pop sounds like one pop per tire rotation. I'm hoping it coms up on a road where I can count the pops in one minute and compair to my speed to see if it's a one to one for tire rotation. But being a sapratic noise it just han't worked out that way yet.

Bolts are torqued to spec.

The thing that gets me is if I messed up the bearing in the carrier or pinion I beleive they would pop all the time. But it went back together just like it shoudl with the correct preload throughout and pinion depth. Also would the pop be a little more consistant?

maby your hubs....

OK so I drilled the guys at our best front end shop in town. If you have a pop and you lightly press the brakes it is very very unlikely it is a bearing and most likely a brake problem. The U-joint would follow but would be an unliekly culprit unless you were having more noise when turning. So I'm predicting some contaminant on the rotor like a big piece of tar or sliver of embedded metal that get hot and then either expands just perfect to grab the brake and pop or perhaps gets sticky and grabs the brake and then pops. Will let you guys know how it goes after I get a chance to look at the rotors and pads....which I just replaced/turned.