Drag Tire Opinions for a 72 Challenger

[Mocktwo]

A local club hosts an annual classic car drag race. Last year was my first participation and a whole lot of fun. However, I had a really hard time getting my tires to hook up. I have a 440 Magnum with a Hurst 4-spped. I even put 200 lbs of mortar mix in the trunk which helped a little. I also adjusted my front-end to ride high, pushing more weight to the rear wheels. Speed was great once the tires bit. This is held on an airport runway (no planes ) and is only 1/8 mile (helps with top speed and safety). This is a fun event but I still want to do well.

I am currently running P255/60 R15 102S M+S - BF Goodrich Radial T/A on Cragar wheels that use the lug nut washers to align the wheel.

I started looking at drag slicks and realized I'm out of my comfort zone. Hoping a few people will help out and share their experience and opinions. I'm ok with getting a set of rear wheels & tires specifically for this event. Radial, bias ply, tread, slicks, larger, smaller, high pressure, low pressure ... ugh ...

Tires & Head Spinning (

 

[Chryco Psycho]

Nitto 555 or Mickey Thompson are great DOT street drag tires with minimal tread & obviously are radials .
For true drag slicks there are a lot of choices M&H , GoodYear , Firestone , Mickey Thompsons , Hoosier etc .
Any of these , street radial or drag slicks with far exceed the traction of BFGarbage tires !
With drag racing you need to full footprint on the track with pressure too low you get hard contact lines at the edge , over inflated & you get less than full tread contact as the edges lift , typically you want to be in the 14-18 lb range for full contact ,
On my Duster a burnout was all but unnessisary , I only spun the tires to clean them not heat them & would pull the front wheels over 2' , with typical suspension you need to do a 5- 10 second burnout to get heat into them but not make them overly greasy .

 

[Steve340]

Don't use drag slick tyres they are unstable. Replace the TA's with the Nitto as suggested or a good quality street radial. Buy a set with a good traction rating. Any quality radial will have more bite than the TA's.
Use about 18 psi at the track and no burnout that just overheats the street tyre. A little spin to clean them as mentioned by Chryco.
Remove the extra 200 pounds of dead weight you have to accelerate down the track.
Take the spare wheel, jack etc out of the car. Remove all the weight you can.

 

[heminut]

Any quality radial will have more bite than the TA's.

I agree! TA's are terrible for launch traction! Great for doing burnouts but they don't bite for crap.

 

[Chryco Psycho]

I would go further & just state that BFG are terrible tires overall .
I have seen new tires 1/4" out of round causing terrible vibration , I have seen the belts shift sideways , I have seen them come apart after 100 miles from new , they do not have traction for launch or cornering , mostly just dangerous tires .

 

[Mocktwo]

Thanks. Everyone agrees the BFGarbage have to go (that term entertains me).
I've been looking around at the Nitto and MT tires ...

Next, sizing. Do I stick with my 255/60 R15? I can change wheels on the rear and go wider, thinner. Like 275/40 R17.
Thoughts?

 

[Steve340]

That depends - if the motor is a street torque motor go too low on the gearing side and it will go slower.
There is perhaps a case for sticking with the size you have and just try and maximise what you have.
Take some weight out and don't get carried away revving the balls off it.

 

[Chryco Psycho]

Often a larger rim will hurt traction , so a 15" rim & tire can hook better than a 17" rim with the same tire size .

 

[6PKRTSE]

I run a Mickey Thompson Drag Radial Bracket Pro on the street and strip. 315/60/15's on mine. However, mine is moved inboard and mini-tubbed tubbed.

 

[6PKRTSE]

If all stock rear end arrangements. Depending on your gear. I would go with a pair of 275/60/15's drag radials on 15"x10"wheels if you don't want to go with slicks.

 

[Mocktwo]

Thanks @6PKRTSE. Other comments have discouraged slicks.
I have an A833 with 3.09 first and 1.67 second. Rear is 8 3/4 3:23
I'll need to measure if 275 will fit in the stock wheel well.

 

[6PKRTSE]

Yes, a 275 will fit with the correct wheels. I think mine were 15x10 with a 5" b.s. when I had 275's on the 3 different Challengers I had (1 I owned twice).

 

[Mocktwo]

Thanks ... now to find a deal.

 

[heminut]

Other comments have discouraged slicks.

True racing slicks are illegal on the street, they don't have a DOT number on them. The so called DOT slicks that do have a DOT number on them are VERY marginal for street use and weren't designed for full time street use.

I have ran 275/60/15's on two Cudas with 8" wheels and 3 &1/2" backspacing with no problems.

 

[pschlosser]

For those of us who prefer to run the same size/diameter (more or less) tires in the front as we do in the back, can anyone confirm the widest tire sizes we can run on the front using your typical 15x7 wheel without it rubbing the frame or fender in the tight turns?

Let's presume these are paired with the 275/60/R15 in the back over 15x8 with the 3.5-inch offset.

 

[6PKRTSE]

I run 235/60/15's on the front on many of my cars.

 

[Chryco Psycho]

I would rather run a 275 50 over a 60 the 60s are very tall

 

[6PKRTSE]

I agree these days with 50 series tires. I actually run several sets of 295/50/15's on several sets of my wheels to avoid the jacked up raked look. I like them low bit not lowered. Stock ride height

 

[turbosmblk]

If you’re racing on an airstrip run slicks. Specifically Hoosier C07 28/10.5s. Radials of any kind are NOT your friend on a unprepped track or street. Leave the weight in the trunk, if the car doesn’t spin then remove the weight and see if it still doesn’t spin. Weight in the RIGHT PLACE on bad surfaces is actually your friend. You’re thinking right about getting the front end up a high center of gravity is your friend on no prep as long as you still have front end travel. Track racing and “street racing” are totally different so unconventional thinking is how you have to tackle it.

 

[turbosmblk]

Also, keep the burnout short. Maybe 15-20ft and try to stop ASAP. Doing big smoky burnouts can hurt you because you get way out on em and pick up rocks and dust and it sticks to the tire. If you can hook the tire before you hit dirt you’re less likely to spin once you do hit it. But if you hit the tire with dirt you will definitely spin.