Brake Caliper Sheared Off! Help!

[AZROVER]

Saturday morning while brakeing onto a highway off-ramp my car started to shudder out of control until it came to a stop with front right wheel locked up. I pulled off imediatley thinking that the sound was a broken shaft or something of the like. After a quick inspection found nothing, I kept on my way with the right front locking up at every stop. Since I had been having abs issues and I was drivig in the first rain AZ had seen in months, I just figured it was a sensor problem since I could roll fine until I needed to brake. Once I get home I took a longer look underneath and found that the right caliper was on the front of the disc. with the wheel off I could see all the damage. My rim had been milled out fromt the inside, the dust shield had been folded in half and the caliper was just hanging on by the hose. One bolt was still bolted together in side it's mount and the caliper had completley sheared off of both of them. Has anyone heard of anything like this? Is this something LRNA should be made aware of? I'm not sure what else is broken, I should be able to get a new caliper off of a friends scrap disco, should I repair or remove the dust shield? What else could be broken?
-Hank

[KevinNY]

From the looks of it I would guess your caliper bolts were loose for quite a while and the movement each time you braked caused fatigue. Were the bolts and other piece of the caliper still in place?

[XtremeMarine]

I would be very concerned about how "much" milling your wheel encountered. Aluminum alloy wheels have good structural strength when new, but even a little damage can create a hazardous situation. I would at the very least make this wheel your spare after repairs are done. I personally removed my dust shields as they trapped mud in the brake components whilst off-roading. If you keep them or remove them, it's really up to personal preference, biased on driving conditions. I would seriously look at the brake hose and fittings on both ends. You might want to be safe and replace front hose(s), and fittings while in there. Also, check all front end components while the corner is apart. Bearings, ball joints, tie rod ends, etc...

[stolenheron]

damn dude, you're lucky that you didn't get that problem while you were on the highway.