This has really been bothering me for some time, but everytime I watch a large aircraft, such as a Boeing or Airbus, in a nasty crosswind they seem to land in a crab without aligining the longitudinal axis of the plane parallel to the runway. How is this possible, does the landing gear somehow stay straight even though the body of the plane is turned into the wind?

HI,
You're right in that they crab, but the wheels still remain in line with the aircrats nose. If you watch closely next time, you should see around flare height the pilot, "kick" the rudder in order to align the wheels just before touchdown.

Here,
Take a look at this video of this famous approach at Kai TaK, note how the pilot aligns the aircraft before touchdown. Hope it helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KknF7RdbJ-k

That guy made the checkboard turn too late, i do not think that his crab and kick out were due to crosswind. I cannot remember the link but when boeing was testing their triple sevens in crosswinds, it appears that the pilots kick out after the mains touch down, which confused me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljOxo0s33sI&NR

Mayby the link your after. Fair enough, seems you understand about crosswind landing. As for the kick out after touchdown, i persume its just the airplane rotating on the main wheels due to the rudder action, definately don't think the wheels face a different way to the aircraft.

Heres what wiki says about "kicking out" after touchdown.

Different planes require different techniques. Some get kicked straight during the flare, some get kicked straight after main wheel touchdown and some even use a cross control low wing technique (i.e. MD11). If a plane is landed with a crab, the wheels will in addition to the kick by the pilot pull the plane straight, just like on your BMX bike jump landing with a slightly tilted handle bar.

I think part of the aircraft ceritification tests is that the aircraft must be able to land in a crab without the landing gear breaking, bending or buckling.