Too thin of pads and rotor will result in a caliper piston that travels further than it's length. Which is why there are minimum thickness listings for both. But with new pads, not sure if that was your problem.
Glad to hear of a "simple" failure.
I would think a rubber hose failure would result in no brakes vs. pushing the piston too far, but that's a good point.

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83 SD

84 CD