Best way to counter speed wobbles/fish tailing at track?

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

Find someone that knows what they are doing and do a 4 wheel alignment on it. Go on the high side with the caster. Check both front and rear tire roll-out.

My "first" dedicated drag race car was a 1960 Dodge Phoenix that weighed over 4100 lbs. without me in it, I put a cheater 1959 SS 383 stroker motor (unknown C.I., 4.375 stroke with a 4.410 bore, I think I didn't have any micrometers back then ) in it. It ran high 12.s at 105 MPH at the old Thermal air port drags in Coachella Valley, CA a long time ago It had a set of 5.0x14 inch stock steel rims on it with a set of Penny 8.00x14 7 inch wide drag slicks with probably way to little air pressure in them It would wonder around every time I let off at any speed above 30 MPH, I soon learned that the back had to follow the front as long as I didn't try to correct with the steering wheel
I would put a tiny bit of left turn into the wheel after I let off in the 1/4 mile and let it slow down while the back end sashay around all it wanted to
I've never crashed a car at the track, YET
Not so on street cars
Be safe, don't crash

Don’t stab the brakes at the end of the track. A lot of problems can come from this.

That's all good info, but that car should not be doing that, especially at that power level. Something is physically wrong with it! I doubt if it is driver error.

I haven't been to the track, Ill be going soon, just gotta drop the broke in 446 into the engine bay and wrap up some interior issues..

I posted this question to get some edumacation bout the shimmys and fishtailing ive seen watching other racers, many which went out of control and smashed up some really nice cars. I just want to be prepared. Im going to do what was suggested, make a few light runs and see if I encounter any steering/suspension issues, and get them worked out before I try again.

I replaced my entire font suspension with new pitman/idler, all tie rods ball joints, control arm bushings, strut rod bushings, center link. had my power steerin box rebuilt, welded steering box supports, reinforced the mounts for the strut rods, skid plate and boxed my lca's, 1.06 firm feel torsion bars, steering shaft connection (forget what that was called) and also frame connectors. Ive done an alignment but will redo it once the engine is in.

What I learned from Frank Hawley is that sometimes if the car isn't going straight, it's because the driver is inadvertently moving the steering wheel from the shock of the launch or when they shift. Without even realizing it. An in-car video camera identifies any driver related problems.
Frank also said that if the car gets out of the groove always abort the pass.

What do you expect to run, ET and speed? Sounds like you have done a lot of suspension work on it already. Fast cars can be no fun if they are ill handling. Did you check setback, tire roll-out? My Land yacht had set back issues ( factory quality control ). Once that was addressed, it was a different car at the track.

The first time down the track I set the throttle cable-rod about half pull. Opening up a little more each pass, you learn more about you and the car till you feel easy makeing an all out pass. Very fail safe. I've seen one guy go full out on the first time out, did a giant wheel stand and come down hard, flip and totaled his car, ended up on the roof. The more HP the more unpredictable it is.
Might add, make your first settings soft, engine tune, suspension, then work up to the best, not on kill right off the bat. Learn your combo in steps.

Toe in is your friend

The only car I had an issue w/the shimmys was my wagon. Issue for me was at 4000 lbs it did not like the old centerline 3.5" wide rims. Add the Flaming River quick ratio gear box and it was a but pucker ride.
Added 5" rims and put in the factory gear box from my cuda and the car goes down the track like I'm cruising down the highway. Night and day. Some like the quick ratio box but for me it just didnt wk.

It is now November, what track are you going to go to soon?

On your deal I think your expecting the worst case scenario, which is good but don't be surprised if it goes straight arrow from A to B with no baloney sauce or problems
You could do a hard launch only or a soft launch and then hit it with WOT until you shift it into high gear and then let off or lift some and drive it to the lights Your choice

Your combination sounds to me like it should be in the mid to high 11s, once it's sorted out. That'a lot of weight, and it doesn't sound like the suspension setup is especially drag-focused, specifically those big torsion bars won't help with getting the front end up off the line to help plant the tires.

I don't think a 275/60 is tall enough. The ST-21 is not a high RPM cam, which is why I think it needs something in the 29"+ diameter to keep the revs down with the 4.10s on the top end (assuming 1/4 mile, not 1/8).

If the suspension & steering aren't sloppy, it should drive fine on radials.