...or, "Holy Rules Interpretations, Batman!"

There is a discussion going on over in the Prod forums (I'm seeing some familiar names there), that I find very enlightening and very applicable to IT. The debate is over the rules in regards to threaded sleeves on dampers:

ITCS D.5.b.5 - "Coil-over struts or shock absorbers, where a threaded sleeve is permanently attached to a housing, are prohibited unless fitted as standard equipment."

I had always read the rule to mean that the threads cannot be permanently attached to the shock body. However, read that sentence again, slowly. I'll wait...

What the rule REALLY says is that a SLEEVE WITH THREADS cannot be permanently attached to the shock body. That means, boys and girls, that threads which are machined or rolled into the shock body, ARE LEGAL as long as you don't use a sleeve! Therefore, the rules revert to ITCS D.5.b.1...

This is quite the revelation. I gave Very Serious thought to keeping my mouth (keyboard) shut and finding some really good value dampers that use threaded bodies, such as Morris Dampers, and seeing if it would pass scrutiny, but that's a lot of money to gamble on (but less than I've spent to try and get around the heretofore rules interps). I'd love to see this interpretation upheld, in the same light as we're using a poorly-worded rule to allow spherical bearing suspensions.

Whadya think? Any takers? Any arguments?

For more info, here's the original forum duscussion on Prod:

http://www.coloradoscca.org/prodcar/viewto...opic.php?t=2269