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Traditional brake controllers can clutter your cab or get in the way of your knees. This one is only 1" thick and mounts flush against the dash using the included bracket and hardware. It gives you full access to controls without taking up space or blocking anything. You can mount it anywhere, at any angle, and still easily reach the large manual override trigger when you need it.
Wiring doesn’t have to be a hassle. The custom-fit adapter plugs right into your vehicle’s built-in brake control port—no cutting or splicing needed. Just connect one end to your factory wiring and the other to the controller. Because it’s not permanently installed, you can unplug and transfer it to another setup or remove it for storage whenever you want.
You get precise brake tuning for every trailer setup. The orange rocker switch fine-tunes gain on a scale of 0.5 to 9.9, while the black rocker switch adjusts load from 1 to 9. Gain sets maximum braking power based on trailer weight; load adjusts how quickly that power ramps up. Together, they let you match braking feel to road conditions, from smooth highway runs to short stops under load.
A bright, easy-to-read LED display shows your settings clearly in numbers and letters. You can adjust brightness or switch to night mode so it’s never distracting. If something isn’t right, it displays error messages so you can troubleshoot instantly without guessing what’s going on.
With time-delayed operation, this controller consistently applies preset brake power across up to 4 axles (8 brake assemblies). It’s compatible with electric and electric-over-hydraulic brakes and works smoothly with PWM, ABS, and cruise control systems. Whether towing light or heavy, you can count on steady braking that feels predictable every time you hit the pedal.
Alternate Instructions
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi, everyone, Aidan here with etrailer. Today, we're gonna be taking a look at the Curt Discovery NEXT Brake Controller. This is gonna be a time-delayed brake controller. Let's check it out. When it comes to brake controllers, there's gonna be two options you're probably looking at, time-delayed and proportional. Proportional is gonna be the nicer of the two where if you lightly press your brakes, the brakes in your trailer are also going to be lightly applied.
If you slam on the brakes, the brakes in your trailer are also going to match that proportionally. With a time-delayed brake controller, it's gonna be applied at the same rate every time, so you don't get that fine adjustment. You can still adjust the settings, but it's gonna be the same every time. So if we're rolling up to a stop sign, coming to a very slow and predictable stop, and our gain and sensitivity are set kinda high, it's gonna be applying the brakes pretty hard. Same for if we have those set kind of low and we slam on our brakes on the highway, because someone in front of us stopped, the brakes aren't gonna be applied in a similar fashion.
There is the manual override you can always pinch to apply, but that's just something to know with a time-delayed system like this. Let's talk about those controls. The manual override is a pinch style where I'm pressing the button with my thumb. It's pretty easy to reach from the driver's seat where I've got it all set up. So whenever I'm driving, I feel like if I needed to suddenly reach down and get it, I can find that pretty easily every time, and index my thumb well enough to get a good press.
So good to know for emergency situations where you might need that. Now, there's gonna be two sets of controls here for the gain and the load. The orange buttons are going to adjust our gain or our brake power. You can go anywhere from 0.5 up to 9.9, and this is going to signify the different power levels. So 0.5 is the weakest, and as I go up, it's going to get more and more powerful.
So if I have a heavier trailer that needs more stopping power, I'd set it higher. The next one is going to be our load. This is basically how quickly the brakes are applied, so that can go from 1 to 9. At 1, it's going to be the lowest, and at 9, it's going to be the fastest or the quickest application. So basically, ramping from zero to fully applied where we have that gain set. So for demonstration, I'm just going to put the gain all the way up to max, and I'm gonna hit the brakes. And you'll see, slowly, it'll climb up to where we set it. And if I turn that load down all the way to 1, it's going to climb much slower to that designated power level. So you can fine tune this to your own trailer application, and depending on how heavy of a trailer you have and how good the brakes are, that will determine what you want those set at. But generally, that gain is going to be for the weight of the the trailer, and you can kinda determine the load from there. Now, to give a visual indicator of that gain, we've got our vehicle hooked up to a trailer simulator box. I've got the gain set to the absolute lowest it goes, so that's gonna be the lowest brake power, and you can see where the voltage is reading right now. If I turn the gain up to 5, that's gonna be right in the middle, you'll see that voltage will climb up higher. And then if I turn it up to the max, 9.9, you'll see that climb up even higher. So this is just to give you some visual indication of that different power level of the braking. This is designed to work with trailers up to four axles and will work with PWM, ABS, cruise controller, and electric-over-hydraulic brakes. So keep that in mind as you're picking this out if it's gonna work with your trailer. Up to four axles, I'd say for the most part, you're gonna be totally fine. If you don't need one that can go up to four axles and you like this style, Curt does make a similar version that's up to three axles. So that's something to keep in mind too if you don't need this much. Now, the big advantage to something like this, and something you probably noticed if you're familiar with brake controllers already, is going to be the size. It's a lot smaller and a lot more shallow than the brake controller we pulled out of this 4Runner today. And that's great, because even though it's mounted externally, it's not going to be in the way of your knees as you're getting in and out of the vehicle. And as I'm in a normal driving position, I've got plenty of distance between it and my leg. I don't feel like I'm gonna be hitting it all the time, 'cause it doesn't stick out very far. That's thanks to the very low profile bracket. We've got it mounted up with the included double-sided adhesive, but you can also use the included self-tapping screws. Just know that they're pretty long, and you're gonna have to have clearance behind there. But this will just click into place over that bracket. (bracket clicking) You can hear that snap in, and that's what holds it in. One thing to note is that because it's not inertia based, you can mount this really wherever it fits best, so it doesn't necessarily need to be level or facing any certain direction. Now, the installation can vary depending on your vehicle. I'd say check for what your vehicle has in terms of pigtail adapters. That's what we we're able to do with this option from Curt. We offer this pigtail adapter on our site here at etrailer, and that allows us to just plug directly into the vehicle's prep package for this. So just check to see if your vehicle can do that, because that's definitely going to be the easiest option as far as installation goes, 'cause it just plugs right in and all you have to worry about is mounting up that bracket, and then tucking up that wire loom from the adapter. Something else to note is that that LED readout does have a number of different functions. You can adjust the brightness, there's a day and night mode, but it's also gonna give us readouts for different errors. So if something's maybe not fully connected or something, it will tell us here. Your instructions give you a full list of all the different errors that can occur and short descriptions of what they are. But because its screen gives full text readouts, it's pretty easy to tell what's going on based on what it's showing. Like for example, when we first hooked this up to our simulator box, we didn't have the 7-way plugged in all the way, and it told us it wasn't connected. So we went back there, pushed the plug in the rest of the way, and then it worked properly. So that's going to help with just troubleshooting anything that may be occurring in your setup. For me, I think this is a nice middle ground between having the controls, easy to access, and having that LED readout, so you can see those errors and the power, and just have a little bit more control over it while still staying out of the way and being flushed to the dash. But that was just our look at the Curt Discovery NEXT Brake Controller. Thanks for watching.
Ratings & Reviews
Great product and great service from etrailer.com. It's wonderful etrailer makes it so easy to match the brake controller and adapter harness for your respective vehicle. It took me a total of 10 minutes to install on my 2006 Dodge Ram 2500
Order the wiring harness for my 09 Dodge Ram, was extremely easy to install, the plug under the dash was facing straight out and easy to get to. I ran the harness over the transmission shifter linkage to keep it hidden, plugged into the brake controller, then hid those wires to not be seen when door is open or sitting in truck, I don't like loose exposed wires.
Curt Custom Wiring Adapter for Trailer Brake Controllers - Dual Plug In - C51332
Item fit exactly and directions was very specific as to where to plug in in. Items were shipped promptly and was as described.
ordered to hook up a curt brake controller in my 2007 Ram Megacab,perfect match up to the factory harness,if it was only about 6" longer i could have mounted the controller where i wanted it to go
The folks at etrailer are the best! Very helpful and knowledgeable!! The product I received fit perfectly and works great!!
The Curt wiring adapter made installation of the Curt Triflex brake controller on our 2008 Dodge Ram 3500 a breeze. Just plug one end into the brake controller plug and the other into the pre-existing plug-in all ready under the dash, then added a couple zip ties to keep it up and out of the way. It couldn't have been any easier. The plug in connection also allows the brake controller to be moved easily from truck to truck if needed
The directions on this item are horrible. I finally figured it out and was able to install it onto my Ram 1500, but only after spending hours trying to make everything fit right. If you're looking for a hitch setup to pull a trailer long distances, I would advise you to look at other options. This will work for my short trips with my half-ton pickup, but I would not want to pull anything more than 50 miles with this setup.
I ordered a Curt Discovery trailer brake controller. Exactly what I was looking for and for a great price. Transaction was smooth and easy and the controller arrived within a reasonable amount of time. I liked the parcel tracking that showed the progress of my order.
I used this connector with a new brake controller that I also purchased. It was very easy to connect to the controller & truck's electrical system (under the driver's side dash). So far it's working beautifully.
As always, etrailer was excellent with their advice, shipping, and follow-up emails. I have had great experiences with them since 2010.
Trailer control shipped quickly, super easy install with the pigtail. Happy customer!
My 07' Dodge Ram Quad Cab had a factory installed receiver hitch and therefore the plug to which this cable attached. However, I had to go to the Curt mfg website to find a picture of the actual truck plug. Once I found the plug which was buried up in a difficult spot to reach, the cable snapped in easily. It is sufficiently long enough to reach the controller cable if one installs the controller anywhere on the knee panel below the steering wheel.
I ordered the Curt TriFlex trailer brake controller. Had to return the first one, due to the manual brake activation lever being sloppy loose. They replaced it with no hassle. It looks cheap but works good so far
Used in conjunction with the Curt brake controller I purchased from etrailer.
Worked perfectly.
Larry W.
4/18/2015
Works fine No reliability issues, worry free.
2006 Dodge Ram. Easy install. Plug it in and tie up the wires. I put a wire protector sleeve to cover the wires coming out of the controller.
I only towed with it once and then I sold the truck I installed it in. I pulled the two axle camper bought 350 miles and it worked fine.
I needed an electric brake control for my 2006 Dodge pickup but was having trouble finding one locally that would plug in to the factory installed plug. If it was a Chev or Ford it was in stock and I didn't want a universal that would have to cut into the wiring. I called etrailer to make sure what I saw on their website was correct and they assured me it was so I ordered it. It arrived, I instaled it and it works perfect.
Michael D.
7/16/2017
Still working fine.
In hind sight I probably didn't need to order this item. Forgetting how difficult it was to access the connector on my Dodge Ram when I installed my first (now defunct) brake controller, I imagine it will be a greater struggle to get it to disconnect before putting the new one on. So I think what I'll do is cut the Dodge specific connector off the one end, cut the wires off my old controller and splice this pigtail into it, thus eliminating the need to remove the old connector!
Jeff M.
9/25/2018
My splice job worked as planned however I no longer own that vehicle.
I ordered a fifth wheel brackets and hitch along with curt brake controller and pigtail. Everything fit great with no problems and the service and shipping was very speedy. Highly recommend etrailer for all your needs.
Connected to the OEM plug perfectly, works great on our Sunset 16 ft trailer.
Purchased this controller for a 2004 Toyota Tundra Limited and it has preformed perfectly! I haven't had any complaints. It reacts and adjusts quickly. Along with the plug and play function there's not much more I can say. Great product!
Perfect fit for my 1999 Dodge Ram. it made installation of the brake controller super easy. I highly recommend paying the extra $** for this item.
It does not fit my vehicle. On the attached photo the connector on the left is the stock dodge plug, the plug on the right is what I just got
Brooke M.
8/23/2023
Hmm...youll be looking for another white plug like the white harness. Do you know if your truck for sure has the factory tow package?
This item easily plugged into my Curt brake controller and into my truck’s factory plug. Made for a less than 5 minute install; powering up the brake controller with no issues. Convenient is an understatement with this pigtail. Rig is 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 4X4 CTD.
Sorry for the late follow-up. I just wanted to let you know that the brake
controller and wiring harness I purchased through eTrailer worked very well
with my 2008 Dodge Ram 2500 with the Cummins 6.7L diesel. Pictures are
attached for your use, as required.
The trailer was an 18-foot enclosed snow machine tailer with a steel
chassis. I can't remember the empty weight, but it's substantial. We towed
empty and full on dry and snow covered roads from Oklahoma to Colorado and
back. Even with th exhaust brake on my truck, I can't imagine towing this
load through the hills and mountains without a brake controller. It's been
done before, but I would say it's an unnecessary risk given the more than
reasonable prices at eTrailer...it was cheap insurance pulling such a heavy
rig with my family on board.
The controller was definitely not your top-of-the-line model, but the
adjustability and controls were more than adequate for somebody who tows
occasionally. A professional may desire more proportional controls and
adjustability, but not much more. This unit peformed flawlessly.
Thank you for your time. Please feel free to contct me if you would like
any clarification on my statements or pictures.
Works well on a older truck , the new proportional controllers didn’t seem to be very effective on a older brake system.
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Tim
9/3/2023
Still working great!