Rubber grease pockets on front steering assembly

[HawkinsHollow]

Hey guys! I have a 3015R with 31 hours on it. I went to add grease to the zerks on the front steering assembly today. They have these little rubber grease "pockets" around where the grease goes in. I noticed one of them is already starting to dry rot. Not to the point where grease is coming out but they have these surface cracks. Has anyone noticed this happening to theirs? Should I be concerned if one of them ruptures?

 

[Gafn]

Yes I noticed the same on mine, and started to treat them with 3-IN-ONE RV Care Rubber Seal Conditioner with UV Shield.
This really stopped the UV breakdown - I made it part of my grease regiment - they look brand new and my tractor is a 2015.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Yes I noticed the same on mine, and started to treat them with 3-IN-ONE RV Care Rubber Seal Conditioner with UV Shield.
This really stopped the UV breakdown - I made it part of my grease regiment - they look brand new and my tractor is a 2015.

GREAT TIP!! Thank you!! Where do you get this stuff? Online?

 

[Gafn]

Yea - Amazon has it - and most stores - think I got it at Walmart and Autozone before

 

[Texasmark]

Are you talking about a cap over a regular, semi-permanently installed zerk? If so, forget the cap. If you grease your machine anyways near the recommended interval, the grease remnants from removing your grease gun nipple will keep it lubed just like in billions of installations over the world.

 

[huntsman1024]

I noticed this on my new 3515Ch just the other day. It's on the tie rod ends. The little rubber "boot". It almost looks like an eggshell surrounding the rubber, and it's crumbling away. It almost looks like a thick layer of paint had been applied to the tie rod end, and after the paint dried/hardened, it's now cracking and crumbling off. What appear to be dry rot cracks are just on the surface "layer" of the rubber boot. The cracks don't go all the way through the rubber, which is why I think (hope) it's just a hardened coat of paint.