The same day that I found the dog food in the dude's air cleaner assembly, this other little thing happened...

This older guy brought a really nice, red, 2005 Silverado into the shop. He had all kinds of graphic work done on it, but it wasn't to the point it was gawdy: It was quite tasteful.

He had just gotten new tires and rims on the truck not more than a few days prior. He said that in all, he spent $13,000 -- yes, thirteen-thousand dollars -- on the wheels. Why so much? They were a very odd size, and they were high quality.

So anyhow, another part of the responsibility working top-side is to check the tire pressures. I started at the left rear and worked my way around the vehicle clockwise. When I got to the left front wheel, I went to remove the valve cap, and I noticed something kinda odd.

Almost 100% of the time, a valve stem on a tire has the little valve mechanism itself, called the valve core. When I removed the cap from this valve stem, the air started draining out of the tire at a rather alarming rate. Whoever the guy paid $13k to for the tire work apparently couldn't afford the $0.05 valve core, so they just aired the tire up a whole bunch, and slapped the cap on there.

Needless to say, I installed a new valve core for the guy, inflated the tire to the proper pressure, and it didn't cost him a thing.