If thats what Matt reackons...
I guess to be be fair, he has had a lot fitted to Defenders and the like without any issue like this in the past (it seems). So that does raise a number of questions. Is there another Defender local to you that you can use for comparison? One odd Defender I'm prepared to accept. Two would be starting to look like a trend
From an engineering perspective (and this is the bit your not going to like, I'm afraid), it's best to support the enitire depth of the wheel nut for a whole host of reasons (including distortion of the nut when tightened). I can't agree with the earlier post about leaving them short. Simple question is, does a thin nut work as well as a thick nut - answer, no. Why? More turns of thread supported by the nut.
......actually, the real answer was sooooo much complicated and involved discussions on elestic deformation and yield loads at which point the squirrel out side was far more interesting to study. But I picked up the gist of it! :lol:
HTH
Cheers
8)
Eeyore