Montreal-area family wonders if ‘lug nut challenge’ led to wheel flying off vehicle

A Montreal-area family is raising concerns about the so-called “lug nut challenge” after their son lost a wheel while driving across the Victoria Bridge this summer.

Nathan Parker says he was driving from Longueuil toward Montreal around 9:15 p.m. when the incident happened.

He says the wheel came completely off his vehicle as he was navigating the first curve at the exit of the bridge.

“I was turning, and my wheel completely came off of the car,” Nathan told CityNews.

Nathan says he waited about two hours for roadside assistance before a friend brought him a jack, allowing him to put on his spare tire and drive home.

The incident caused approximately $8,000 in damage. No one was injured.

His father, John Parker, says the family believes someone may have deliberately loosened the lug nuts while the vehicle was parked at Champlain Mall, where his wife leaves the car before taking the REM to work.

The family says they have not contacted Champlain Mall to request surveillance footage, although Nathan believes the parking area would have provided an opportunity for someone to tamper with the vehicle without being noticed.

The family suspects the alleged tampering could be linked to a dangerous social media trend known as the “lug nut challenge.”

Nathan says he had never heard of the challenge before the incident, but began hearing about it after telling friends what happened.

“They were like, ‘Oh, well, there’s this challenge on TikTok where people loosen the lugs off of the driver’s side wheel.’ That’s the exact wheel that I lost on the road,” he said.

The alleged social media trend is believed to involve people filming themselves loosening or entirely removing lug nuts on parked vehicles.

Searches for the harmful challenge on TikTok redirect users to safety information. The social media giant has said it does not allow content promoting dangerous behaviour, and it has not confirmed “lug nut challenge”-related content has ever appeared on its platform.

The Parkers say they tried to file a police report after the incident, but were referred to their insurance company instead. No police report was filed.

CityNews reached out to Longueuil police (SPAL), who say that as of Oct. 14, there had been eight potential cases in 2026 linked to the challenge.

John Parker says the incident has also prompted people around him to take extra precautions with their vehicles.

“A friend of mine went out and bought five sets of lug nuts and put five sets of lug nuts on. Some are doubling up on lock nuts on their cars,” he said.

The Parkers’ account come days after 37-year-old Justyn Ingram was killed on Highway 15 in Brossard when a tire detached from an oncoming vehicle.

John Parker says Thomas Ingram, Justyn’s father, is his brother’s father-in-law, making the tragedy particularly close to home.

The family fears the two incidents could be connected to the same dangerous trend and wants authorities to take reports of potential tampering seriously.

“Did it take this loss on society for them to start doing something? I’m saddened by it, you know?” John Parker said.

He is urging drivers not to ignore unusual noises or changes in how their vehicles handle.

“If feel something with your car, you have to stop, you have to check. Don’t put it off until your mechanic in the next week or two,” he said.

Police forces across Canada have been warning people about the alleged challenge for months, but no police agency has directly confirmed a link between reported incidents and the social media trend.

A Longueuil woman has also raised concerns that her family’s vehicle may have been tampered with after her own son discovered loosened lug nuts.

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