Do NOT put them on unpainted! They are iron, and will rust like hell if you leave them bare. I painted mine with Rustoleum self etching primer, followed by Rustoleum engine enamel. I also cleaned them with brake cleaner beforehand to remove the oily residue on them that prevented rusting during shipping (need to get rid of it for the paint).

As for the temperture, I know my cans of Rustoleum say not to use it under 50-60 degrees or over 50% humidity. You may be able to spray them outside and then bring them in for drying, but changing the covers in that cold is going to suck.

 

For anyone considering Riddlers, they are the same as Poison Spyder's and you can get the PS already powdercoated. That's what I did. A little white paint for spidey and you're all set!

 

I definately would not put them on bare and I'd really recommend having them powdercoated because regular paint will have a limited lifespan, especially on the front diff from road dust. Think about it...even dust at high speeds is like a mini sandblast.

I'd look for a good powdercoating shop. I can give you the name of a friend of mine in northern jersey if you'd like and you can ship them to him. Definately worth it, probaly cost less than 40 bucks for both and last way longer.

 

my only thing about powder coating is having to get it touched up. I treat my rig mean, and I know I've destroyed a few rocks already with my diffs. So I like the idea of being able to touch them up myself

 

Then in that case, powder them black and then it will be easy to touch them up.

 

Where in northern jersey? I am in northern jersey and have had a really hard time finding a good powder coater.

 

I have riddler covers. Take the time to paint them to your liking!

 

It's supposed to be warm Saturday, get some gloves, can of rustolium walk outside and hit it lightly, let it dry inside your house or warm Jeep if you don't love the house smelling like paint. Repeat a couple times, let it dry over night at least. Get Lube Lockers. Get LSD additive for the rear, gear oil etc. When you get a warm enough day that you feel like changing them out warm up the diff oil by driving around and pull the trigger, simple job should take MAYBE half an hour per diff.

 

yeah i saw that, should be a warm weekend, if it doesnt rain sunday i might even get to install sunday. shoot, if its really nice, like 45*, i might even do the grill mesh mod! I like the idea of letting the paint dry in the jeep though, but with the soft top i feel like the heat would disappear asap. I guess worse case, i paint, its cold, and after the winter i need to repaint again. yesterday and todays weather just has me all sour, if its going to be this cold we could at least have snow damn it!

 

I have a Mango Tango like yours so I just got some color matching paint and hit them up with the garage door open, put a space heater on them with the garage door closed for a few hours and voila, done. Easy peasy!

You can see a pic of how mine matches up well with the Jeep. Oh and i got the Riddlers too. You can also see where I did the grille mesh mod and painted that Mango Tango too when doing the diff covers.