It looked like a classic case of fatigue failure. Maybe it was a reconditioned drive shaft that had some corrosion that lead to a crack on the shaft. You can see in the one o’clock position where the crack had started and then the fatigue failure propagated down.
(1) Torque too high.
(2) Damage caused when removing the shaft before, if a large hammer was used.
(3) Nut ceased or rust welded on and sheared off the thread rather than moving the nut.
(4) Impact wrench used prior and torqued too high.
(5) Read workshop manual to see if nut and/or shaft should be greased before torquing up.
(6) Rest of shaft splined section ceazed or poor fit and it has locked up - then when trying to pull in the shaft using the nut there is not enough shaft to stretch.
(7) Cheap aftermarket shaft that didn't use the correct metal grade or heat treatment.
(8) Hitting nut or shaft slightly side on when removing it (looks rusty around the splines).
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