TRAILER HITCH SYSTEM WITH HITCH PIN KEEPER

A convertible hitch apparatus for removably mounting on a vehicle hitch receiver tube may include a mount structure for mounting on the receiver tube, a lower hitch structure including a lower ball mount, and an upper hitch structure on the mount structure above the lower hitch structure. The upper hitch structure may comprise a support frame and an upper ball mount movably mounted on the support frame. The upper ball mount may comprise a tongue element movably mounted on the support frame to pivot between deployed and inactive positions, a pivot pin pivotally mounting the tongue element on the support frame, a locking pin mountable on the support frame to selectively block the tongue element in the deployed position, and a hitch pin removably insertable into a tongue aperture of the tongue element. A hitch pin retaining element may selectively block removal of the hitch pin from the tongue aperture.