Welcome to AF. I suspect the brakes are dragging on the front causing the bearings to overheat and fail. You might check the brake lines. If the flexible brake lines to the calilper are restricted it won't allow the caliper to release pressure on the pads once the brake has been let up. A bulge or kink in the lines would indidcate this. Check the calper bolts and spray them with some WD-40. They could be hanging up. You described the problem well and maybe some others out there could help with this. Anyone?