Abstract: Apparatus for wheel lift towing vehicles for supporting the tires of a vehicle to be lifted and towed. The apparatus includes a pair of tire support cradles having front and rear members for respectively engaging the front and rear surfaces of a tire of the vehicle to be towed. The rear member has a bar which mounts a moveable support member in the form of a foldable plate. The plate may be raised above the bar to provide a retaining surface for engaging and supporting the rear surface portion of the tire, and may be lowered to provide clearance for entry beneath the vehicle and behind the tire. The plate in its lowered position is also adapted to be positioned on the ground so as to provide a ramp over which the tire may be drawn into the cradle when, for example, the tire is flat.

Abstract: Apparatus for wheel lift towing vehicles for supporting the tires of a vehicle lifted and towed thereby includes a tire support cradle having front and rear members for respectively engaging the front and rear surface portions of a tire of a vehicle. The rear support member includes an elongated arm and a wheel support member. The arm is adjustably positioned in a receptacle carried by a support beam which also carries the front member of the cradle, and is secured in the receptacle by a locking bracket which is pivotably mounted on the top of the receptacle and adapted to pivot between an unlocked position to a locking position. In the unlocked position the bracket does not interfere with movement of the arm. The bracket includes a leg which carries a locking pin. In the locking position lateral movement of the arm is precluded and the pin is inserted into a bore in the arm to lock the arm against longitudinal and lateral movement.

Abstract: A flat bed vehicle such as a tilt bed car carrier vehicle has side rails which may be positionable either in a raised position disposed above the bed platform and a lowered stowed position wherein the tops of the rails are disposed coextensive with the platform. The caps or tops of the rails are supported on posts and the ends of posts remote from the caps have cam followers which are positioned within respective cam tracks extending transversely beneath the bed floor. The cam tracks are configured so that the followers may be moved between first and second ends of the cam tracks selectively. At one end of each track the follower is located such that the respective post may be either in the upstanding operative position at the side of the bed, and at the other end of the track the follower is located such that the post is in the stowed position extending transversely beneath the floor of the bed with the cap of the rail positioned on a shelf of a longitudinally extending bracket at the edge of the side.

Abstract: A truck axle grasping attachment for use with towing vehicles for lifting a truck by its front axle. The attachment is in the form of a cradle having a pair of spaced apart upstanding tangs, one of the tangs, that being the front tang, being fixed, and the other of the tangs, that being the rear tang, being mounted for movement so that the attachment may be slidably positioned for receipt of the truck axle within the cradle without interference of the axle by the rear tang. In one embodiment the rear tang is pivotably mounted on the base of the cradle and has an integral arm adapted to be contacted by the axle as the attachment moves into axle capturing relationship, and when so doing moves the rear tang into operative position. In other embodiments the rear tang is removably carried by the base of the cradle.

Abstract: A carrier vehicle for carrying at least one car or the like on a platform slidable and tiltable relative to a fixed bed includes hold-down devices for locking the platform against tilting when the platform is in a rest position in the forward end of the bed. Hydraulic cylinders selectively slide the platform and tilt the platform by separate control rods which are manually actuated. The vehicle includes a safety device for preventing tilting of the platform when the platform is locked by the hold-down devices so as not to break the hold-down devices and for preventing the platform from tilting downwardly onto the hold-down devices when the platform has been slid forwardly but not tilted completely for locking by the hold-down devices. The safety device includes a cam plate fixed to the control rod which effects tilting and a stop plate fastened to a rail forming a portion of the platform.

Abstract: A light mounting assembly for mounting safety lights on a towing vehicle includes a light carrying portion pivotably mounted to an attaching portion for pivoting the light carrying portion from a disposition normally on the top of the winching frame of the vehicle into a retracted position between the winching frame and the cab of the vehicle. The attaching portion includes a pair of bracket members adapted to be secured to the winching frame intermediate the frame and the cab and includes a rod rotatably carried by and spanning the attaching bracket members. A pair of cam members are fastened to the rod adjacent the attaching bracket members. The light carrying portion has two end members interconnected by a central support bar, and an arm fastened to each end member pivotably connects the end member to the respective attaching bracket member.

Abstract: A gage for setting sewing machine bobbin tension is comprised of a tensioning member which is located substantially within an open topped cylindrical case and which has gripping means arranged to extend out of the case, through an elongate opening in its side, for releasably engaging thread from a sewing machine bobbin. The tensioning member includes a tightly wound coil which fits rotatably over a post located in the case, but which is prevented from rotating on the post by means of a tab extending from one of its ends. The other end of the coil extends across the case to provide a straight indicating section, and an extention section extends at an acute angle from the indicating section back across and out of the case through the opening. A window located in a lid which covers the open top of the case is arranged to display a portion of the indicating section.