I had it, it was the bushings. To my understanding, the front ends are horrible in 05's and 06's.

 

Front end are horrible for Charger in general.
You replace one item, the next item goes out. Common failure are Tension strut arm, Upper ball join, outer tie rod end, and Sway bar bushings. Once in a while I see a Lower ball joint goes out, and only replace with the Knuckle, whooping $600 parts alone.

 

My Magnum RT is an early '05, and I love it. It has had a few issues with the front suspension. Both outer tie rod ends became loose and I replaced them with aftermarket (Moog) ends with grease fittings. The left "tension strut" ball joint also loosened up, but as of a year ago, these are a Mopar only part. If they had a grease fitting there would be no problem. Finally I had to replace the anti-sway bar bushings. All of these repairs are easy if you have access to a frame contact lift. I cannot truthfully say that the front end is horrible. I have had cars of other makes that were more troublesome. I have reached the conclusion that building a permanently-lubricated suspension/steering ball and socket joint is beyond the capacity of American manufacturers. I wish they would stop trying and just put grease fittings on everything that moves.

 

I had the same problem with a bad clunking. it is now gone. I had to replace the lower a arms as they have the lower ball joints connected. They are not sold separate. (depending on your car). I also had to replace the sway bar ends too. My left side almost fell out, do not over look this or you will loose your front end. I saw it on the lift and the left side was hanging by a thread. I think that the Magnum (I have an AWD so it is a bit different) has 3 joints on the lower arm on each side.
Definitely go to Ebay and buy yourself the service manual on CD, it's worth it.
The car is a bitch to work on, so if you do it by yourself make sure that you have experience and the correct tools.
This car I give to the dealer as I do not have a lift, I was shocked that you have to remove the intake manifold off to change one side of the spark plugs. Not like the old days.
Take care of this A>S>A>P> or you will be flat on road dead.
The clunking is a warning.

Good Luck
Jack
06 AWD

 

iVE HAD MY 2005 MAGNUM SXT FOR 2 YEARS NOW AND HAVE FINALLY OVER COME ALL MY CLUNKING NOISES , I JUST WANTED TO LET EVERYONE WHO OWNS THE CHARGER/MAGNUM AND 300C CLASS VEHICLES THAT ALL YOUR CLUNKING SOUNDS ARE BUSHINGS AND MOST COMMON ONES TO GO ARE YOUR CONTROLS ARMS AND FRONT SWAY BAR . THE STRUT BUSHING i HAVE FOUND DONT NEED REPLACING ALTHOUGH IF YOU HAVE THEM OUT AND HAVE NOT CHANGED THEM YOU MAY AS WELL, IF THEY ARE MAKING A SQUEEKING SOUND WHEN HITING CERTAIN TYPES OF BUMPS AT ONLY CERTAIN SPEEDS I HAVE FOUND USING SOME WHITE LITHIUM GREESE WORKS REALLY WELL AND IS ALSO AN INEXPENSIVE FIX. i WILL KEEP YOU POSTED ON ALL MY FINDINGS AS WELL AS I HOPE YOU ALL WILL DO THE SAME FOR ME!

 

Wanted to thank you all. After paying $300 to have my tie rod ends replaced and still having the clunking noise I came across your forum and did some research. My noise was caused by cracked tension strut bushings. Replaced the strut assemblies myself and saved a bundle. No more clunking!!

 

i had the same problem,(80,000 miles) I found it by disconnecting the sway bar and driving the car, noise went away. replaced the bushing reconnected and no noise.

 

2005 SXT 135,000 I changed sway bar bushings and inner tie rods last weekend.... zero body lean, steering much tighter, clunking like at disco all speeds, unless smooth pavement....
time to spend some money now.... boo

 

I have an 05 magnum I bought at a used car lot,took it for a drive and never noticed the clunking that bad til later on down the road,I brought it back to them and they pretty much washed their hands of it,I've been struggle'n ever since and was starting to regret buying mine also,but I just spent a bunch of money replaceing all kinds of front end stuff upper left and right control arms,tie rods both sides struts and upper strut mounts,not it sway bar bushings,not it,really frustraed at this point and then link bar struts both sides ,not it ended up being about the only thing i did't replace left control arm and I replaced the right also,this all in the last three weeks wheel alighnment later with a new set of 235 55 17 on and I just drove across canada with it and love my Magnum again. I hope you guys have better luck finding it than I did

 

Wow, cannot believe so many people have the same issues, i have the 05 sxt, have gone thru control arms, bushings, tie rods, and so on for the past 4 years. The replacement parts don't seem to last that long. I believe the front end is too heavy for the replacment parts from dodge. Has anyone tried to go after market for a more heavy duty tie rod or control arm? Is there such? Could use the advise, its ridiculous. Love my car and when she's not clunking out of the front end and she's balanced and aligned properly, omg what a please to drive this model. Love this car...