Why wire up brake "dog bone"?

[SwampLedge]

Early 28. I'm going through the car prepping for reassembly and found this. Since the engine and transmission are from a '31, it's reasonable to assume the wires were put there in preparation for when the clamshell was removed. I'm concerned, though, that this was a field fix to keep it from dropping out in operation. (The vehicle was used on a farm for many years before it found its way to me.)

Any thoughts/relevant experience? Thanks.
Jerry

 

[Wagga A'er]

I had a similar situation. The wire on mine was used to hold the dog bone in place while the engine and gearbox were removed. These early "28 cross shafts are a different beast. You can find a lot of good info on here about them.

 

[Roadster62]

I worked on one years ago, if that dog bone falls out there are NO brakes. it would be interesting to hear from drivers with the early system. Bob

 

[Gary Karr]

I can't see how the "dog bone" could fall out unless there is so much wear in it as well as the brake cross shafts. Mine is tightly in place and works well.

 

[SwampLedge]

I also can’t see how it could fall out, but the knowledge and experience on this forum is wonderful, so I thought it useful to ask. Thank you to all who have responded.

Jerry

 

[Tom Wesenberg]

I can't see how the "dog bone" could fall out unless there is so much wear in it as well as the brake cross shafts. Mine is tightly in place and works well.

I agree. My 28 is also working fine.
Maybe someone was trying to fix a problem that didn't exist. Seems to happen quite often.

 

[Bill G]

I had my first experience looking at a '28 last night. Went to help a newcomer to the hobby with brake adjustment. On my '29 the main cross shaft has bushings at each end where the cross shaft actually crosses each frame rail on each side. I don't know if what I saw was unique to '28's or if his is missing bushings . There are the same straps that cover the ends of the cross shaft, just like mine, but unlike mine, there are no bushings on his.?? I haven't looked in any of the diagrams yet, but thought I would ask.