Our 2007 Honda Pilot totaled a sedan and a Honda CRV when they hit the tow hitch on our Pilot in separate events. The Pilot “laughed” at the sedan which lost the radiator and more. The CRV hit our hitch so hard it tweaked the entire hitch unit and the rear part of the frame. It’s still on the road with a new OEM hitch, but I had to drill out the bolt holes a little to make it fit. My R1T replaced the Pilot that I used to drive all the time.
Doesn’t mean a hitch or hitch mounted device should be used for such reasons. It only demonstrates the cars that hit it was softer and sustained more damage as result. Crash a heavier or more rigid car into it, at same exact speed, the result would be reversed. Energy transfers through path of least resistance. Physics.
Heck, 25 years ago I had "the cheapest new car on the market" - a Hyundai Accent. I got rear-ended on the freeway in stop-and-go traffic at moderate speed by a Chevy S-10 pickup.
Some people, well most, can't handle constructive criticism. I'm glad if the OP came out on top, I just don't want others thinking it's a great thing to do. Heck, some jurisdictions it's actually illegal to leave your tow receiver in.
Light trucks didn’t have to meet same standards as passenger cars. And back then manufacturers didn’t think as much about keeping customers alive longer to buy more cars.
