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: Wheel lift towing apparatus has tire support cradles including front and rear support members for respectively engaging the front and rear surface portions of the vehicle tire. The front support member includes a fixed ramp for engaging a lower front surface portion of the tire and a moveable ramp in the form of a pivotable plate disposed above the fixed ramp to provide an extension thereof for engaging an additional front surface portion of the tire above the surface engaged by the fixed ramp. The pivotable plate may be rotated downwardly to a stow or inoperative position, and in such position permits the cradle to enter beneath the front of a low ground clearance vehicle to be towed. Once under the front of the vehicle and adjacent the front tire it may be rotated to the operative position and a support member pivotably journalled to the opposite surface of the plate may be positioned against stop members to hold the plate at an upstanding inclination in the operative position.