[RayCo]

Without a doubt, I would loan it out. I'm going to guess that your stepdaughter is on the younger side, and as such, has many more years to gain more wisdom and understand the reasons behind your hesitation. But for now, what's more important? A dent in a tailgate or your relationship with your stepdaughter? There's nothing wrong with explaining to her that you care for your equipment and it's important that she respects it and all that, of course. 99% of what you say will probably go in one ear and out the other, but that 1% that stays will reverberate years later when she's remembering that you helped her out even when it was not necessarily what you wanted to do.

I've run into similar situations with my nephews, but it's gotten to the point that they know they can't ask things of me just because they don't feel like dealing with something on their own, and I know that they only ask me when they really have to and have already exhausted other reasonable options.