1997 Chevrolet Cavalier 2.2L- Clopping Sounds

Hi, I've got a couple of quick questions about my 97 Cavalier, recently, when traveling at speeds between 10-50KPH in a straight line, I've been getting this intermittent noise coming from the front right of my car, the noise, is best likened to "Horse Hooves on Cobblestone" and happens intermittently on mostly residential roads of varying conditions at varying speeds, the noise is like a sequence, a majority of the time sounding exactly the same, making a clip...clip...clop noise, or rarely a single clip or a single clop. I'm thinking it's the car's suspension, but I'm not sure, I'm also concerned that this is a safety issue, but I don't have a trust fund to unload into the car just to make the noise stop... some have told me that it's the CV Joint, and perhaps the entire axle, but I need to be sure what it is before I commit to an expensive repair. The car has 101,000KM on the clock.

Also, my front brakes are surging, and the rear drums are making a grinding sound, so I know that I'll need new drums, pads, and shoes as well in the future.

Thanks for any insight you may have. How do the tires look? Inspect the tread on the front tires. Tires are new as of October, checked the tread and it's fine. The only other suggestion that I have is to actually get the car in the air and inspect suspension, brake, and steering components. I don't recall ever having a vehicle make clopping noises from a bad CV axle, but anything is possible. Noises are hard to diagnose when you are not there to listen to them.Car Repair Talk's forum.