To see if this custom-fit item will work for you please tell us what vehicle you'll use it with.
This brake controller fits neatly under the dash with a low-profile bracket that holds it flush to the surface. At only 1" thick, it doesn’t clutter the cab or get in the way. You can mount it anywhere and at any angle since it’s not affected by inertia. The compact design gives you more legroom and a cleaner look while still keeping every control within easy reach.
The LED screen makes it easy to see exactly what your brake settings are, day or night. It shows gain levels as a row of bars and displays error codes to help with troubleshooting. You can adjust brightness or switch to night mode to cut glare. The display always keeps you aware of how your trailer brakes are performing without pulling your attention from the road.
Tuning your trailer brakes is simple with separate rocker switches for gain and load. Set gain for how much braking power you want, then fine-tune the load to control how fast that power builds. You can make it stop softer or more aggressively depending on trailer weight, cargo, or road conditions. It works with trailers up to 3 axles (6 brake assemblies) and supports electric or electric-over-hydraulic setups.
A custom harness makes installation straightforward—just plug it into your vehicle’s factory brake control connector and then into the Venturer NEXT. There’s no splicing or extra wiring to deal with. The included bracket and hardware mount the unit securely, and once plugged in, you’re ready to tow.
Built-in self-diagnostics constantly monitor trailer connection and check for shorts, while an auto-sleep mode saves battery power when parked. That means less worry about draining your system or missing a problem before hitting the road. It’s reliable control in a compact, dependable package for consistent braking performance every time you tow.
Alternate Instructions
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi there. I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Today we're gonna take a quick look at this CURT Venturer NEXT Trailer Brake Controller. Now, if you're not familiar, if you have electric trailer brakes on your trailer, you are going to need a brake controller in order to activate those brakes. Otherwise, they're not really doing anything for you. There are several different kinds of brake controllers out there, different features and that sorta thing.
This is really gonna be your more basic option. So it's not gonna have some of the more advanced features that allow you to control the intensity of your braking in the moment, but this is going to be enough to get your brakes functioning. So if you are just looking for the base model that's gonna do the job for you without having to pay a whole lotta money, this is gonna be a great way to go. This will work for your trailers that have up to three axles, so six brake assemblies. Basically the way this works, every time you apply the brakes in your vehicle, a signal is sent via your brake switch to the Venturer.
The controller is then gonna send that power out to your trailer brakes to activate them with an intensity that's preset by you. It does also have the predetermined rate, which is also set by you, and we'll get into what those two terms mean, but this is going to be a time delay system. So unlike some other brake controllers that are proportional, this is going to apply the brakes at the same intensity whether you're tapping on the brakes or slamming on the brakes in an emergency sorta situation, that your trailer's brakes are gonna apply at the same rate either way. Both the amount of your braking power, called the gain, and the rate of the application, which is called the load, can be adjusted to suit your preferences, the road conditions, the type of trailer you have, and the weight of your load. We've got the switches here that are going to allow you to very easily access that and adjust.
So we've got 10 different gain settings. You select a higher setting for your harder braking and a lower setting for your more gradual braking. You do wanna go as high as you can without your trailer's brakes locking up. That's a good indicator that you've gone a little too far, so you wanna come back down a little bit. Typically your gain is only gonna be readjusted when you're experiencing changing road conditions or if the weight of your trailer changes.
So if you've taken off your load, you might wanna adjust it so that it's not engaging as hard with that lighter empty trailer. This also provides nine different load settings, and that's gonna control the aggressiveness of your trailer's braking, meaning how quickly the brakes reach their maximum braking level. So you've got all that adjustability to preset it, but then once you apply the brakes, it's going to apply that same power and as quickly each time. So again, whether you're tapping on the brakes or you're slamming on them, the trailer's brakes are gonna apply that same amount of pressure. So unlike your proportional systems which will apply the trailer's brakes in proportion to how intense you're applying the tow vehicle's brakes, this is not gonna have that feature. It does have a very simple LED display that's gonna show the amount of power output. So you can adjust that in one-digit increments so that you can know where you're at, you know how much intensity you've got. The brightness is also adjustable, so you can view it optimally either. No matter if you're driving during the day or at night, you can adjust that brightness level. We also have the pinch trigger that's going to give you that manual override capability, so very easy to reach if your trailer begins to sway or if you're stopping in an emergency situation. You can activate your trailer's brakes and the brake lights without having to apply the brakes on your tow vehicle just by pushing in on that switch or that trigger there. This is gonna be very quick and easy to get installed. There really are no mounting restrictions. So with a proportional system, you have to have it mounted in a certain orientation for the internal components to sense the inertia. This, you don't have to worry about that. They've got this mounting bracket here with the included hardware that you can get mounted flat on your dash, and then it just kinda slips in place there, so basically flush with your dash. Very simple to get installed, and you don't have to worry about getting a certain orientation. You can mount it basically whichever way is gonna work best for your setup. You can see our width there. We're looking at approximately 3 1/8 of an inch wide. Our length, we're sitting at approximately four inches, and then our thickness, call it about an inch. So keep that in mind when determining where you're gonna mount this. Now, to get it wired in, it's gonna depend on your setup. If your vehicle is already equipped with a plug-in brake controller wiring harness, all you have to do is just connect the unit to it, so very simple there. If you don't have a built-in system, there are some plug-in vehicle-specific brake control wiring adapters available that are gonna help to reduce your installation time, and of course, that is gonna depend on your vehicle. So I'd recommend using our vehicle fit guide here at etrailer.com. You'll select your year, make and model of your vehicle. We'll let you know which products will work for you. So specifically for those vehicle-specific kinda products, that's more important, but if you do have one of those available, I'd highly recommend going with that. Otherwise, if you are just going to wire it in place, you are gonna need either the 20-amp circuit breaker if you have a two, three or four-brake application, so with two or four-brake application, or you'll need the 30-amp for a six-brake application. So depending on your setup, you'll need either one of those, and again, if you don't already have a seven-way plug at the back of your vehicle, I highly recommend our ETBC7 seven and four-way brake controller installation kit that you can see on the screen there. So that's gonna give you that plug at the back of your vehicle so that you can plug in your trailer's wiring and make sure everything is connected properly. This does come with a limited lifetime warranty. So if you we're to have any issues with it, you're more than welcome to reach out to us here at etrailer.com, but like I said, this is a very basic model. I think it's gonna get the job done for you. It's not gonna have a whole lot of bells and whistles and that sort of thing, but it is gonna help to apply those brakes on your trailer, and that completes our look for today. Again, I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Thanks for watching.
Ratings & Reviews
Worked like expected. Got to me in good time. Very satisfied! Would order from etrailer again.
Fit as expected and made installation quick and clean.
Plug worked great, delivery very quick, priced right. Couldn't ask for more. Took literally five minutes to install the controller with this cable. Nice!
As described. Plugs for correctly.
BRAKE CONTROLER & HARNESS WORK GREAT & ARRIVED ON TIME THANKS FOR THE GREAT SERVICE
This break controller was easy to install and
Works grat.
Received order in good time, and have installed in truck. All went well and works as described. Very happy with the price and the service. Will buy again from E-trailer again.
Great product! Simple installation! The staff was very helpful and order was filled and shipped promptly. Will order from etrailer.com again!
This makes for a very installation. Instructions were very good. Brake controller installed and ready to use in 10 mins.
My husband installed easily. Makes towing our camper much easier.
This product is high quality and easy to use and install. Especially for the price. The shipping was extremely fast and the ability to track packet was even better. I would highly recommend using this company and buying this product.
Piece of cake installation. Installed in 10 minutes. Your company should install a shroud over the wires coming from the brake controller to the adapter to hide the single wires.
Installed but not used with a trailer yet, easy instruction and appreciate the extra hardware for the installation.
Compact and not intrusive. Decided to use the adhesive tape included and taped under the dashboard L of the steering wheel.
Great product, only thing I wasn't sure about was if the gain flashed while a trailer was not hooked up. I emailed etrailer and in a timely manner for a response.
I have 2015 ram 1500. Installation was simple. Might have taken 20 minutes. Setup and adjustment was simple just be sure and read directions. Much smoother braking than old controller.
Cable was perfect, dealer wanted 5 times the price, has worked flawlessly since I purchased it. etrailer.com was great with information I needed, and shipped item immediately, great job George, thanks again, will definitely only buy from etrailer.com in future.
Thanks Susan for helping me out. You found the correct part and install was a breeze. It took about ten minutes to hook up controller and connect harness. Thanks for working with me on the return issue. Looking forward to trying with my toy hauler.
I purchased this product with a Curt time delay brake controller. My 2010 Dodge Ram has the 7 way plug and towing package on it already which made the installation of the product super easy. I looked under the dash by the parking brake and there was the plug. I plugged it in and plugged in the controller, mounted it and I was done! Installation took me less than 12 minutes and that included me checking the plug with a multi meter to ensure the power was getting thru. The best part is I can remove the controller when I am not towing my RV so that I keep my stock appearance. If you can use this part on your truck pay the little extra and get it. The shipping was super fast and easy! One of the best experiences buying online!
You wouldn't think an adapter cable to mate a CURT brake controller to a 2010 RAM, factory installed trailer brake cable would be difficult. But another online retailer and 2 (TWO!) local RV dealers sold me the wrong one..each the same; but wrong!
Only etrailer got it right and at a fraction of the cost of the "others"! Works fine.
Easy Install with the Harness I bought for it. Works great.
Ordered a Curt brake controller for my Toyota Tundra with the matching dual plug in. It installed easily, and worked perfectly. I later sold the Toyota and bought a 2010 Ram pickup. I transferred the Curt brake controller to my Ram pickup by ordering the matching dual plug in cord. It also installed easily, and works perfectly. Very pleased with everything. Excellent and prompt service, and helpful videos to help make installation effortless.
I am using this for a test fixture. I have found it to be easy to use and having a reliable ramp rate for EOH brake actuation.
I replaced my previous Curt venturer with the new one and it was easy. Just plug it in. Used it this weekend and did great with easily adjustable trailer brakes
Milt
It was easy to install. Just plug in and ot works. Fast shipping.
You guys were very helpful and I'm having the tow hitch and wiring installed with AP Automotive.
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