Not enough power

[AdverseCity]

OK, I just finished setting up my crawler and it doesn't have nearly enough power, I think. Here's the specs from my post in member's rides.

Chassis
- Unitek Spider (on EBay)
- Made from ¼" lexan

Suspension - Came with chassis
- Solid aluminum 4 link
- Shocks unknown, comparable to stock T-Maxx shocks

Axles - Came with chassis
- Machined from solid T6061 Aluminum
- Hardened stainless steel axleshafts and internal gears

Gearbox - Came with chassis
- Case machined in T6061 Aluminum
- Hardened stainless steel internal gears

Driveshafts - Came with chassis
- CV slider shafts made from Aluminum and hardened stainless steel

Wheels / tires
- Axial narrowed beadlocks / Losi rock claws

ESC
- Novak Rooster crawler edition

Reciever
- Traxxas 3 channel micro receiver

Transmitter
- Traxxas TQ 2 channel

Motor
- Novak high torque expert 55T

Servo
- Hitec HS5645MG, aluminum servo arm and custom draglink steering

Wheelbase - 17"

Ground clearance
- 2 3/8" at lowest point (center of axle)
- 3 3/4" at center of chassis

Width
- 16" outside of tires
- 11" hex to hex

Height
- 8" to top of chassis without body mounts
- 10" to top of body


It's a pretty large rig (slightly bigger than my Savage X) and when I try to crawl up stuff it just doesn't get very far. It's not a traction issue, the wheels just stop turning. I'm running it on a 6cell 2200 MaH Ni-Cd battery. My question is, what wouold be the ideal battery set-up for the ESC I have in it. In the manual it says not to run more than 7 cells so I'm guessing Li-po is the way to go. I don't want to waste money trying different set-ups and definitely don't want to mess up my ESC. Any reccommendations?

[Reflection]

Only being able to run 7 cells kindly hurts a guy looking for more power. Pretty lame,IMHO,to build an ESC thats 7 cell max. You'll be limited to a 2 cell lipo if you wanna go that route. You won't have any more voltage than you have now. Running 7 cells,you could go with a 5,7 or 10 turn puller. They will crush your 55t,or any 540 sized motor for that matter,in the power dept.

You can gear it down for more power,but with only 7 cells,you won't be able to volt up to get any speed out of it.

If you want more voltage,go Castle. IMHO,Castle ESC's are the best option for crawlers. WAY to many options and benifits running Castle stuff. If you run a Castle Creations ESC,you could throw a 3 cell lipo to that 55t and wake it up a bit. Even better,rewind it to a 35t and run a 3 cell.

[Tanis]

Yeah, definitely a motor and voltage issue. I run 10cell packs on my Mamba Max.

[AdverseCity]

That's what I was afraid of, guess I'll have to build a smaller rig for my Novak and get something a little more capable for this rig. Can't quite yet but it's in the works. Thanks for the advice, as much as I didn't want to hear it.

[Tanis]

Another option with the Novak, is to pull the red wire from the harness, and run a BEC or voltage regulator, then you can run more cells.
But I think you will still be way underpowered with the 55t