If you want the truck you donate to be put to as good a use as possible, it's important to give all essential parts of it a proper inspection beforehand. If anything needs to be repaired or replaced, don't hesitate to take the truck to a mechanic for maintenance work. To ensure that the charity will have little trouble using your truck, look over these three things to check on your truck before you give it away.

The Truck's Brake System

Any charity using your truck probably needs to move a large amount of objects from one place to another. During loading and unloading, if the truck's brake system isn't rock solid, it'll be very difficult to use properly. In the worst case, the charity might decide to scrap the truck for parts rather than use it directly.

If you're not an expert when it comes to truck parts and the brake system has shown any signs at all of breakdown (such as noisiness or a hard-to-push pedal), your best option is to take the vehicle to a professional mechanic. The mechanic will separate out each of your truck's brake system parts to determine which one is causing the problem.

The Condition Of The Truck Bed's Door

The truck bed's door will need to be opened and closed many times if the charity is going to use the truck to haul things. Therefore, before you give away the truck, apply oil to the hinges of the truck bed door to loosen them up a little.

If the door is still very creaky after you apply oil, you might consider removing the hinges and soaking them in soapy water to remove any dust or debris that's clinging to them. While you're at it, you can scrub the body of the truck bed to make it look good as new.

The Positions And Condition Of The Truck's Mirrors

When people from the charity are driving the truck through large piles of donated items, it's important that the mirrors flanking the front doors are clear and in their proper positions. Otherwise, the sides of the truck's body could get terrible dents from colliding with heavier items as they use the truck.

Even if your truck's mirrors haven't been doing anything odd lately, make sure to give them a thorough inspection. Use a leveler to make sure that the stems of the mirrors are parallel with the ground.

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