A trailer tongue alignment guide for centering the socket of a ball-type hitch above the ball as a vehicle is backed toward the trailer. A base plate having a flat bottom surface has a hole which is aligned with the hole in the vehicle draw bar so that the base plate is clamped between the ball and the draw bar by means of the ball fastener. No portion of this base plate extends into any substantial engagement with other portions of the vehicle or with the draw bar and therefore the base plate may be easily mounted to any conventional, existing ball-type draw bar. A rigid, V-guide is removably mounted to the base plate by means of engaging male and female coupling members formed on the base plate and the guide. These permit the guide to be simply lifted and removed from the base plate after the trailer socket is engaged with the ball, thus preventing the V-guide from restricting the articulation of the trailer with respect to the towing vehicle during turns.

A guide system arrangement for a tow vehicle having a ball. The guide system is universally mountable on the upper surface of a bumper or on the draw bar of the hitch of the tow vehicle by providing non-rotatable pillars to the side and in front of the ball and wings removably attachable to the pillars forming a wide V channel which accepts most couplers attached to a trailer vehicle to position the coupler above the ball as the tow vehicle is driven toward the trailer vehicle. Upon lowering of the coupler onto the ball, the stepped stop formed in the wing portion of the guide system releases any tension that may have been formed during the guide process so that the wings may be removed from the pillars for storage thereby allowing a variety of accessories to be mounted on the pillars for use either while the vehicle is in motion or stationary. If the accessories are too heavy or unstable, a support may be coupled onto the ball to provide a tripod mounting for the accessory.

A hitch alignment apparatus comprising a mount having a base for engaging an underside of a drawbar of a ball hitch and a latch pins for engaging the ball hitch above the base thereby holding the base to the drawbar, and a ramp member, having a pair of sidewalls, rigidly secured to a front end of the mount at an elevation above the latch pins, the pair of sidewalls converging as they approach the front end of the mount.

An alignment guide 1 is described which aids in aligning and coupling vehicles and trailers and the like. It is adapted for attachment to a first coupling part C1 of a vehicle/trailer coupling device C1, C2. Part C1 may be a towing bar of a vehicle/trailer coupling device, and part C2 may include a socket B1 which engages over a partially spherically-shaped top A1 of the device C1. The alignment guide 1 has a ramp 2 with tapered side wings 3 to guide the part C2 into coupling engagement with the part C1. The alignment guide 1 can be moved to a stored position on part C1 when not in use.

A hauling system for a self-propelled vehicle and a trailer that is not self-propelled in which the self-propelled vehicle and the trailer are releasably connected by a system that is operable by a single operator who can align and connect the self-propelled vehicle and the trailer from the cab of the self-propelled vehicle. Lateral alignment is achieved by steering the self-propelled vehicle and is facilitated by masts located on the self-propelled vehicle and the trailer that are visible from the cab. Vertical alignment and the physical connection are completed through use of a jack or other lifting mechanism that is positioned on the trailer and is operated by a wireless control signal sent from the cab.