[Shadow_d15]

Well looks like judging by that 5th picture your CV joint on the tranny side is over-extended, which would explain the popping. I actually had the same thing nearly cause me to crash because it seized up on me while cornering. This is often due to the re-manufacturing process, like with mine they chopped the good end off of the tranny side of one, then chopped the good end off the hub side of another and welded them together, well problem was they didnt measure it when they finished it because it was significantly shorter than it should have been. So these days I only buy the brand new ones, and haven't had problems, the reman ones often click and crap anyway. I would go back and ask which one they gave you whether it was brand new or reman. I suspect reman.

Also another thing to check would be the big rear trailing arm bushings, those tend make noises under braking when they go.

 

[Shadow_d15]

Another thing it could be is just a bad ball joint, theres 1 on the top, and bottom of the part the axle goes thru (knuckle) and theres a third in the middle that ur steering rack connects to. with the car jacked up you can grab next them and pull back and forth on the knuckle and on the tie rod ends to try and wiggle and see if theres any play in them tho sometimes u can't feel it. That axle looks like bad news for sure tho. Also, see if they can order the new axle, alot of times they won't stock them but can have them ordered. If theres a Napa where you live, check there, last time I bought a new one, they had one in stock at Napa. I suppose it could be your hub bearings too, but I don't think I've ever heard of those going bad so thats doubtful.