I had a feeling that all the hype behind the HP30 wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I'm glad you cleared it up though!
And I agree completely with what you're saying, trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist in the first place is pretty senseless.
But hey... isn't that how most of these hocus pocus aftermarket part companies stay in business? Misleading marketing and helping people waste their money by convincing them they need a part to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
My favorite is stainless steel brake lines... please tell me I am not mistaken in assuming that is just marketing bullshit?
The misinformation in the brake industry is outrageous.
Rubber flex hoses are rated at 3000 psi and have to be or they aren't allowed to be DOT compliant. A hose can't be rated at that pressure and bulge under pressure. And yet every or just about every seller of them says they will improve pedal feel because they don't expand as much under pressure. I've actually tested both side x side at 2500 psi and they bulge or expand exactly the same amount, or slightly less than .001".
S/S flex lines are worse about being resistant to vibration and kinking. I see them all the time with the braid broken and split at the juncture of hose to fitting due to improper or nonexistent strain relief. I have never seen a rubber flex hose do the same thing.
There is also another myth about flex hoses that folks live by and that is you can't hang a caliper by the hose or you will damage it which is pure BS. If a hose can handle being shaken thousands of times per mile by the suspension hitting bumps on the highway and offroad, can resist almost 3000 psi before bursting, hanging a 5 lb caliper from it won't hurt a thing. Look at it when you hang it and if it isn't trying to kink the hose where it enters the banjo fitting, don't worry about it. That is certainly far less likely to damage anything than using the crimp tools they sell to pinch off a line so it won't leak fluid while you are working on the system.
Another myth is residual pressure valves for drum brakes.
Here is the typical ad for one and they are all very similar.
Drum brakes require a 10 lb. residual pressure (RPV10) to counteract the spring tension in the drum system which tends to pull the shoes away from the drums. This will give you a longer pedal travel and "spongy" brakes. The residual valve holds a pressure keeping the shoes near the drums giving a higher firmer pedal. Also required a metering valve (PVM) to the front (the metering valve prevents nose dive).
Let's do a little math, shall we? 10 psi into a wheel cylinder with a bore of roughly 1 1/8" has an area of just about 1 square inch which is 10 pounds of force against the return springs that pull the shoes away from the drum. The average force of drum shoe return springs as can be verified by anyone who has ever changed brake shoes is about 10 times higher than the force a RPV can exert. In other words, the RPV does and can do nothing to reduce pedal travel because it can't move the shoes off of the anchor pin not to mention that you wouldn't want it to anyway. The style of drum brakes we typically see in vehicles is known as servo or self energizing in that if the drum shoe return springs weren't strong enough to pull the shoes away from the drum, they would just keep self applying until the drum locked up. It is only the return springs that allow you to modulate the brakes so even trying to defeat that with any type of added valve is a fool's errand and taking advantage of folk's ignorance by ads like above makes you an idiot.
You need a bigger master to make your existing brake system work better because bigger is better, right? Nope, all bigger does is reduce pressure into the system and make your problems worse.
There are more but I'm tired of typing.
