Rusted Reese Rails Needing Replacement
Updated 09/01/2026 | Published 08/26/2026
Question:
hello i have a 2012 silverado 3500 with an 8 foot bed. i have an existing puck stlye fifth wheel underbed rails and fifthwheel made by reese. it is the ford stlye puck pattern which is 13x30. I am in search of two parts 1st being a new set of rails part 30868 and second a goosneck kit that will mount to my existing rails part 30158. My rails are rusted out so i would like new ones before i mount a fifth wheel ball to them. Both of these part numbers pop up on e trailer when i google them, but when i click on the link i can not find them anywhere on the website. let me know if you have any availibility on them, or have any other brands that could work for me. i would like to keep my current ford puck pattern so i dont have to drill 4 new holes in the bed, and buy a new fifth wheel, but also want gooseneck capability. Thanks!
asked by: michael w
Expert Reply:
Hey there!
You’ve got the part numbers right. The Reese Elite Under-Bed Rail Kit # 30868 was specifically made for 2011-2019 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra 2500/3500 HD trucks and gives your Silverado that 13" x 30" Ford-style puck pattern. The Reese Elite Gooseneck Hitch # 30158 was then designed to bolt to those underbed rails, so the two parts together were also sold as the complete Reese # 30158-68 system.
Unfortunately, the reason you're having trouble finding # 30868 on our site is that Reese has discontinued that rail kit, and we no longer have it available. Reese's current information still lists # 30158, but without a good set of # 30868 rails underneath the truck, that doesn't solve the rust issue you're dealing with. I definitely would not recommend mounting either your fifth wheel or a gooseneck hitch to rails that have rusted to the point that you're looking to replace them.
I've also looked for another current underbed rail system for your 2012 Silverado 3500 that would duplicate the same 13" x 30" Ford puck locations, but there isn't a direct replacement from another manufacturer that will let you simply reuse those four existing bed holes and your current Ford-puck fifth wheel hitch. That's really the downside here—the # 30868 was a pretty unique setup because it put the Ford puck pattern into a GM truck.
If you're able to locate a new-old-stock # 30868 rail kit elsewhere, that would be the cleanest way to preserve everything you already have, and the # 30158 would be the correct gooseneck setup to pair with it. Otherwise, we'd be looking at replacing the underbed system with a currently available gooseneck/5th-wheel setup, which unfortunately would mean changing the mounting arrangement you have now.
How badly rusted are your existing # 30868 rails—are the two cross rails themselves deteriorated, or is most of the corrosion on the brackets and mounting hardware? That will help determine whether there's any reasonable replacement-parts route before replacing the entire system.
