The Marui Big Bear Datsun (MT-59-RC-4) was an early 1/12-scale electric "

monster truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock pic ...

radio controlled car 'Radio-controlled cars'' (or RC cars for short) are miniature model cars, vans, buses, trucks or buggies that can be controlled from a distance using a specialized transmitter or remote. The term "RC" has been used to mean both "remote controll ...

manufactured and distributed by Japanese hobby and

airsoft Airsoft is a team game in which participants eliminate opposing players by tag (game), tagging them out of play with airsoft pellets, spherical plastic projectiles shot with mock air gun, air weapons(usually powered by an electronic motor) call ...

gun manufacturer

Tokyo Marui is a Japanese manufacturer of airsoft guns and toy cars located in Adachi, Tokyo, and are famous for pioneering the design of battery-powered airsoft guns. Their products are principally sold in Japan, but are also exported worldwide. The comp ...

Background

Originally sold only through

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing a ...

in 1984 as a kit without batteries, radio and charger, the Big Bear featured a plastic, tub-styled chassis, Mabuchi M480-RS motor, mechanical speed control and

live axle A beam axle, rigid axle or solid axle is a dependent suspension design in which a set of wheels is connected laterally by a single beam or shaft. Beam axles were once commonly used at the rear wheels of a vehicle, but historically they have als ...

rear suspension as opposed to an independent setup. Tires were wide, chevron-treaded implement-styled units and actually comprised the majority of the Big Bear's suspension. The

shock absorber A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulic device designed to absorb and damp shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typically heat) which is then dissipated. Most sh ...

s were simple

coilover A coilover is an automobile suspension device. The name coilover is an abbreviation of "coil-over shock absorber". Description Coilovers are found on many vehicles, from RC cars to normal passenger cars, race cars and 4x4 vehicles. They are som ...

units which allowed for limited suspension travel.

Coil spring A selection of conical coil springs The most common type of spring is the coil spring, which is made out of a long piece of metal that is wound around itself. Coil springs were in use in Roman times, evidence of this can be found in bronze Fib ...

s also served to hold the front bumper in place and absorb impact. The body was a highly detailed styrene plastic

Datsun Datsun (, ) was an automobile brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986, but relaunche ...

pickup with driver figure and "Big Bear" decal set. Because of its low cost, ease of assembly and good factory and aftermarket support, the Big Bear played an important role in the early growth of the radio control hobby. Due to intense competition from Tamiya and somewhat brittle plastic, Tokyo Marui pulled completely out of the hobby market by the end of the decade. The 'Big Bear' was sold in Australia as a complete kit, including radio transmitter, batteries, and charger.

Kit Revisions

Owners of the original version (v.1) of the Big Bear experienced problems with its differential gears. This kit used the same gearboxes and gears as the Marui Jeep CJ (MT-59-RC-7) and the Marui Toyota Landcruiser (MT-59-RC-8) kits and consisted of 2 large bevel gears, and a gear set of 48 pitch metric. This proved to be a major problem for the first version of the Big Bear, as the special black M480RS motor and the large tires designed for the Big Bear created increased load, causing the differential gears to break or heat up and melt. Marui made a special replacement part "#048 - Strengthened Differential Gear Set" that consisted of a tri-bevel differential, larger 32 pitch gears, and a change to the gear ratios. This new differential gear set found its way into the re-release of the Big Bear (v.2) coupled with a new heat sink plate between the gearbox halves. There were some draw backs to the new gears; The added torque of the new gear ratios made the truck do wheelies more easily, and made the truck a little slower. In addition to replacement gears and heat sink, Marui replaced the original M480-RS motor with an RS540-SH motor, and a redesigned mechanical speed controller with covered contacts to eliminate contamination.

Specifications

*Scale: 1/12 *Chassis construction: ABS resin tub-style *Transmission: Rear wheel drive with differential *Suspension: Independent front trailing arm and

rear suspension *Shock absorbers: Simple

*Motor: Mabuchi RS-540 (v.1) / RS-540SH (v.2) *Tires: Semi-pneumatic rubber chevron *Original Marui catalog number: MT-59-RC-4

Spare Parts List

The following Marui RC Parts were used for the Big Bear, as well as other Marui kits:

Aftermarket Parts

Many supporting manufacturers developed products for the Big Bear. Here is a list of known aftermarket parts designed specifically for this kit:

References

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External links

The CJ3B Page
Radio-controlled cars