Another thought on your track issue, because the bearing casings are so brittle due to the hardening process. Is there enough clearance that they could hammer in place because of the weight balance of the genny inside the track when closed?
it's just weird that both would break. Fred
BTW, I've got three broken bearings; the two that support the front of track (vertical support) and one of the two in the front that keep the track aligned side-to-side (horizontal guidance).
Sure that's possible that the bearings are getting hammered, but there is really not any clearance between the bearing and the frame it slides in. When I installed the bearings in the front I had to wrap some painter's tape around it to keep the inner and outer washers in place while I slide in down the track into position. With the tape it was a tight fit, so I imagine without the tape there would only be a few thousands clearance.
Also, if there was a hammering going on from just normal driving, I think a lot of other '04 - '05 PT owners with front generators would be having this issue.
I does look like some front end damage occurred at some point. The fiberglass "front bumper/fascia" that attaches to the generator slide was repaired or replaced at some point.