I think structural contraptions are developed with one of such goals in mind. The structural requirements of structures of fixed position, mainly buildings, are reasonably well described in the pertaining codes. I think on the contrary that the characteristics of machines are more a function of the required performance, so it is difficult to establish a general relationship like the one you are asking for. For example, impact forces of the bouncing vehicles on a bridge do not need to be comparatively bigger than the ones suffered by some component in the vehicle itself, since the forces can be further than such component lessened either inertially or by dampening of the forces with derivation towards other parts in the vehicle.
If you can describe the exact case more completely maybe someone can draw from his experience to share.