I recently had to replace a rear brake caliper because it locked and wore the pads and then proceded to cause the rotor to be destroyed. I am wondering if anyone else has had a problem with the brake calipers locking up like this. The people taking care of the repairs could not provide a real good explanation of why this would happen and actually seem mystified by the failure. I myself am a bit confused. I was in for services 2000 miles ago and had my state safety inspection performed. They have never been shy about trying to sell me repairs, so I imagine if it was something foreseeable they would have tried to push it then; however, the only problem they mentioned was that I would need new front brakes in the next 5000 to 7000 miles. So, I have a few questions: 1) Has anyone else had mysterious/unexplained caliper failures that resulted in serious damage to their brakes? 2) What causes can cause a caliper failure? How can you prevent these causes from resulting in failures? 3) Is there anyway to detect a failure before it wears the pad out and starts grinding the rotor? (I never heard the wear indicators.) I thank everyone for their help and knowledge in advance. My car knowledge is limited to the basic tasks (i.e. changing oil, replacing fluids, etc.) -J