Will be taking my charger to the track soon, my first time behind the wheel. For those of you thatve had this happen to you, can you give me some advice on what to do when high speed wobbles or fishtailing happens? It's the only thing I'm really nervous about

My car has never done that in like 1500 passes.

Just make sure the tires are properly inflated.

I've had several ill handling cars at the track, do NOT OVER CORRECT
If you start to feel uncomfortable lift your right foot a little or all the way off, DO NOT jerk the steering wheel around, make all steering inputs gently, a tiny bit, not a BUNCH
4 speed cars can get your schynter(SP?) really tight in a hurry at WOT
Once it starts to make you feel bad do something to correct it Don't take time to think about what to do at WOT and then do something, don't freeze up

Thanks guys. I've spent years putting this car together and don't wanna crunch it.

Fast68, I'm actually in the process of selecting my tires to. I have 15x10 wheels in the back of my mini tubbed 71 charger. It's auto, 9.5 4200 converter, Dana 60 4.10, has the multi clutch posi (forget the real name of this type of diff), 446 with the st21 cam, 950hp holley, 1 7/8 long tubes into dual 3", makes 525ish hp (little more tuning to do), about 4000lbs with me, I'm gonna use drag radials but can't decide on what size, what do you think?


Cab, so basically don't over react and don't touch the brake?

Make sure the basics are covered. Front End alignment, tire pressures even, etc.

Take the first few runs easy, don't get in over your head.

Fix the problem before it really costs you!

Ball joint, steering joint, tie rod, pitman arm, etc....FIX THE ISSUE!

Yep!

Why? I have a stick car and so far it has gone nice and straight with one exception at the starting line. I was the first car to go down that lane. Starting line was not prepped correctly. Immediately turned for the tree. I got out of it real fast. But like I said I never had any issues down track.

Do not get Nitto's, I sold mine & just got some M/T ET street R, have not made it to the track yet with M/T's but on the street they hook VERY good compared to the Nitto.

If you run a M/T street drag radial and all your steering and suspension is up to snuff, heat the tires a little bit and enjoy. Make a shakedown pass your first trip to get the feel for it and have fun. Don't rush yourself.

Okay, here is a little advice. If this is the first time down the track, here is what I have always done. First pass launch only. This will tell you if it's going to go straight and if any tire pressure or suspension adjustments are needed. Second pass, make a half pass to see how the car feels. Again this will tell you if any adjustments are needed. Third pass go for it. Be safe and have fun.

I agree don't over react,over steer,panic brake.I had to counter steer a bit in this run. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar0u7KtWH-I run

Maybe have somebody with experience drive your car first, make sure its sorted out

2 things that cause wobbles and fish tailing at speed are front end alignment and worn out tires. Get your front end aligned , the tech will check for bad joints and bushings, or he should. If your buying new tires ,you can rule that out.

Point and Stab !
Point and Stab !

if You use a Radial, it should track straight & true. Even on bias plus, with proper inflation it should be just like the freeway. If it’s not, figure out why not. The best advice I can give is to embrace the mindset of: “if it gets loose at all, the run is over”. Roll out of it and make adjustments for the next run.

If it starts to get unstable, just let off the gas. Too many try to be a hero and stay in it.

Only time I've ever had a high speed issue was w/ bias ply tires that had too little air pressure.
On radials I doubt you'll ever have an issue, but keep em at 18+ psi on a 4k lb car.

Yep. In my case, it was too wide a tire for the wheel width and I was keeping the tire pressure lower than it should have used trying to spread out the footprint off the line. Then on the big end the back end would start to sway back & forth cuz the sidewalls were too soft.

no different than pulling a trailer and the trailer starts to wobble for no reason

Isn't that the truth about heroes. I know a few people that say "you're a sissy, don't lift! You don't know how to drive!" Etc. But are too much of a "sissy" themselves to race their own car. Typical car show mouthpieces. Leave those type of people at home. Chip is right on with the 18 lbs on a drag radial. Always worked great for us