A gooseneck ball extender is designed to mate with a center socket and receivers mounted to a towing vehicle and provide a gooseneck ball that is offset from the center socket. The extender has a cylindrical shaft with captured balls that can be moved between a retracted position and an extended position through a spring-loaded locking shaft that moves between an unlocked and locked position. The locking shaft is biased towards the locked position where the captured balls are extended. The extender has an outrigger portion that has puck locks. The puck locks are rotatable between a locked position and an unlocked position. As attached to the towing vehicle, the outrigger portion provides additional support to the gooseneck ball.

The present invention provides an articulated safety hitch which is a more secure and flexible replacement for the conventional hitch and ball towing systems long used in light to heavy duty towing, thus improving safety, longevity, strength, serviceability, and ease of manufacture. Instead of a single ball typically used in conventional hitch and ball towing systems, the inventive articulated safety hitch can move in all directions with wide bearing separation and without binding up or slipping off. In addition, the inventive articulated safety hitch is simple to build and uses readily available, off-the-shelf components as wearable items, such as existing trailer tongues and ball coupler designs.

This disclosure relates to systems and methods of towing, hitching, and connecting devices. In particular, this disclosure relates to tow devices, hitches, and connections for towing item containers behind vehicles, both autonomous and manually guided.

This disclosure relates to systems and methods of towing, hitching, and connecting devices. In particular, this disclosure relates to tow devices, hitches, and connections for towing item containers behind vehicles, both autonomous and manually guided.

A hitch holder that is configured to be secured to a vehicle and which is configured to mount one or more hitches thereon when the hitch(es) is not in use so that the hitch(es) is safely and neatly stored and easily accessible when needed for use.

A hitch holder that is configured to be secured to a vehicle and which is configured to mount one or more hitches thereon when the hitch(es) is not in use so that the hitch(es) is safely and neatly stored and easily accessible when needed for use.

Trailer hitch assemblies and methods therefor. A trailer hitch assembly includes a mounting connection with a bore configured to receive the elongated stem of a trailer coupling device, in which one or more protuberances on the inner surface of the bore of the mounting connection interact with complementary recesses in the trailer coupling device to prevent the elongated stem from rotating axially within the bore of the mounting connection. A fastener can be inserted through aligned holes through the mounting connection and the elongated stem to secure the trailer coupling device relative to the mounting connection. The mounting connection may be an integral feature of a trailer coupling device, or the mounting connection may be separate from the trailer coupling device.

Trailer hitch assemblies and methods therefor. A trailer hitch assembly includes a mounting connection with a bore configured to receive the elongated stem of a trailer coupling device, in which one or more protuberances on the inner surface of the bore of the mounting connection interact with complementary recesses in the trailer coupling device to prevent the elongated stem from rotating axially within the bore of the mounting connection. A fastener can be inserted through aligned holes through the mounting connection and the elongated stem to secure the trailer coupling device relative to the mounting connection. The mounting connection may be an integral feature of a trailer coupling device, or the mounting connection may be separate from the trailer coupling device.

Hitches are disclosed relating to towing that include a sleeve, a receiver stem, a post and a coupler. The post may slide within the channel allowing the hitch to be adjustable. The coupler may be a socket configured to receive a ball. The post and the coupler may be in alignment. The described hitches may be useful for the towing of vehicles having a receiver tube.

A removable weighted vehicle safety guard system having a safety attachment that removably attaches to the back end of a vehicle to add weight, thereby helping to keep the back end of the vehicle stabilized while driving in inclement weather or on slippery road surfaces, and additionally forms a brush guard to prevent damage to the vehicle should another vehicle rear-end the user's vehicle. The removable weighted vehicle safety guard system attaches to the back end of the vehicle via the hitch and is secured using bolts or trailer pins. The removable weighted vehicle safety guard system provides static weight to the back end of the vehicle but may optionally also receive additional if needed. The additional weight may take a number of forms, including weight blocks, and can be added to the removable weighted vehicle safety guard system via bolts or trailer pins.