steering troubles...

ok the story... a couple days ago i was driving some trails and eventually ended up nose down 10' off the trail with both axles articulated in opposite directions (with opens diffs, so aka i was screwed)... tried to get it out, but ended up having to leave it their over night.... so the next day i was clearing out all the debris from the area and trying to level out the area to make it easier to winch out... and i turned the steering wheel without the engine on and i heard a loud grinding sound that sounded almost like splines stripping... and it was coming from under the hood... and now my steering wheel sits about 20 degrees off center.... after using the hi lift to winch it out, i drove about a ile to get it home, and thats where it sits now.... i'm kind of worried to drive it anywhere now becasue im afraid i stripped out a tie-rod end or something and i'll lose my steering going down the freeway... has anyone else had this happen (the stripping sound)? if so, what did it end up being?

Check the pitman arm, that would throw your steering off, perhaps it stripped that. Or perhaps it's in your box. I'd pull the pitman arm off first though.

ok i took it for a drive today... and it tracks fine, and now i notice that the steering wheel is about 80 degrees off, not 20.... i was thinking pitman arm but if that had stripped i'd think that it wouldnt drive properly.... i'll check though...

Check the steering shaft (the one with the u-joints, from steering column to steering gear). It sounds as if you stripped the splines, perhaps at the steering-gear end of that. I believe the top end is keyed by a flat on the shaft, but the bottom end has splines that allow adjustment. If you're lucky you might be able just to sock down the clamp bolt, but you definitely DO NOT want to drive this thing if that shaft is no longer secure!