Steering shaft twisted?

[dom14]

So I saw on fb last night a steering box output shaft of a gq snapped..
Never seen it before but there was a few comments of people who have had it happen to them..
Hopefully it wasn't the OP.

Yeah but, what are the scenarios you can think of that could happen?
I mean, if the output shaft can snap easily, that can't be a good thing, can it?
Loosing control of a vehicle 'cos of something getting stuck near the steering output shaft at high speed & snapping it,
is bit scary.

[BigRAWesty]

Most said it was from impact with things on the track..
But..
That's a hell of a hit..
I guess you keep beefing things up like steering rods etc the next weakest thing will snap..

[Deevo]

Well, to answer the cynicism above, I took the car to a 4x4 wheel aligner and he discovered the track was stretched. Everything else was ok so he just set the toe in. This did not bring the steering wheel back to centre so he had a look at the splined couplings at the bottom of the steering shaft and said all the GUs he's worked on, have the slot in the couplings point straight up. Mine are out a bit. He suspected the shaft inside the steering box may have a very slight twist in it, probably at the root of the spline. He also said you only have to stretch a track rod by a bee's pube and the toe in will be affected. And yes, it was a BIG dog. Thanks for all your replies though.

[BigRAWesty]

Well, to answer the cynicism above, I took the car to a 4x4 wheel aligner and he discovered the track was stretched. Everything else was ok so he just set the toe in. This did not bring the steering wheel back to centre so he had a look at the splined couplings at the bottom of the steering shaft and said all the GUs he's worked on, have the slot in the couplings point straight up. Mine are out a bit. He suspected the shaft inside the steering box may have a very slight twist in it, probably at the root of the spline. He also said you only have to stretch a track rod by a bee's pube and the toe in will be affected. And yes, it was a BIG dog. Thanks for all your replies though.

I'd be replacing the box mate asap..they are hardened steel so any twist will fatigue the metal making it brittle..

Also what was stretched. The track?
I'll assume it's the rod between box and left wheel hub?
If so that's you drag link or steering rod..
And if it's be bent or streched then best replace that too....