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Cab space is limited, and bulky controllers can get in the way. The CURT Discovery NEXT mounts flush to the dash with a low-profile bracket and measures only 1" thick, so it doesn’t crowd your legs or clutter the interior. Because it’s a time-delayed unit with no inertia sensor, you can mount it at any angle. The included hardware keeps it secure and out of the way while staying easy to reach.
Every trailer brakes differently, and you can fine-tune the Discovery NEXT to match your setup. The orange rocker switch adjusts gain from 0.5 to 9.9 in 0.5 increments for precise brake power, while the black rocker adjusts load from 1 to 9 to control how fast the brakes engage. Once dialed in, you get predictable, balanced braking regardless of trailer weight or road conditions.
No wire splicing or chasing connections under the dash. The custom-fit harness plugs directly into your vehicle’s factory brake control port and into the controller itself. Installation is non-permanent—just plug it in when needed or unplug it to move between vehicles or store it safely when not towing.
The bright LED display shows your exact settings in numbers and letters so you can see them without squinting. It also provides error codes for quick troubleshooting and has an adjustable brightness and night mode so it’s never a distraction after dark.
Whether towing a small utility trailer or a heavy multi-axle rig, this controller manages up to 4 axles (8 brake assemblies) with steady time-delayed output. It’s compatible with low-volt, PWM, ABS, cruise control, and electric-over-hydraulic systems, giving you dependable stopping power for demanding hauls.
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.
Customer Satisfaction Score:
93% were satisfied with this product
7% of customers were not satisfied
Ratings & Reviews
I was in need of a trailer brake controller along with the wiring harness. ETrailer had a unit in their inventory and made an exact match to connect to my truck. It was delivered on Friday and I pulled a 30 foot, 7500 pound trailer 170 miles on Saturday with brakes that worked flawlessly. I couldn't be happier with my purchase.
Great website, easy order, arrived a day ahead of schedule. I recommend this site .
Haven't installed yet since I do not have a level surface to calibrate the Curt 51140 brake controller. Travel Trailer currently resting on Jack Stands while in process of doing some restoration work.
Delivery was as expected. Ordered on Sunday and received on Thursday.
I have downloaded and printed PDF instructions (Printed in "Fit to page" for larger print) that will be added to my Owners Manual.
Regarding price; I looked a several RV parts shops and Auto Parts stores both on line and walk-in stores. eTrailer had the best price and the accessories I needed for the installations. The free shipping for orders over $99.00 helped make my decision to place my order. I will revisit the review page when I have everything installed and working.
Thanks eTrailer,
Gerard
Excellent controller for my needs...fast shipping and a great price too! I read up on Progressive vs. Time Delay controllers; and for my needs I felt this Curt controller would be just fine. I just finished installing and adjusting the controller this morning.
We recently bought a '99 Coleman Westlake Pop-up that weighs about 2,400 lbs. dry (much less than my brake-less boat trailer) and wanted to take advantage of the brakes that came on the camper for when we travel in the SC & NC mountains camping. On level ground I have found the controller to be very responsive and easy to adjust. I am sure having working brakes in the mountains will be nice! As others have said, finding just the right place to mount the controller was the most difficult part. The "plug & play" adapter/harness was more than long enough to complete the installation. Oh, did I mention fast shipping too! I am another very satisfied etrailer.com Customer!
I was sent the incorrect "direct plug in" harness originally but after contacting etrailer they sent out the correct one. Everything works perfectly now.
The small rubber pieces that hold the brake controller to the mounting bracket instantly fell off and rolled away, not the best design. Other than that it is small and compact and works great!
This was my fourth order from etrailer and, as were the earlier ones, was delivered quickly. The instructions were clear and easy to follow and it took me only about 15 minutes to install the Curt Venturer Trailer Brake Controller with the wiring adapter for my 2012 Tundra. The white ground wire did not have to be grounded separately as it connects to a white ground wire in the adapter. I used Velcro on top of the controller and beneath the panel instead of the included bracket and can easily make adjustments without removing it. Adjusting the slides on top and the left side of the controller to get the desired braking action and a test drive to verify took another ten minutes. Great product.
Item worked great. It was able to connect with the Trailer Brake Controller and straight to my wiring harness in my truck. I couldn't have asked for a better installation! Thanks etrailer.com!!!
Mating harness is perfect. Well made, quality connectors, proper length, time saver, priced right, a no brainer. Buy it!!!!!
This wiring adapter fit perfect between the Curt Adventurer brake controller and the pigtail harness in my '06 Tundra. Remove the truck's driver side kick panel, cut the truck connector loose from where it was secured, and plug this adapter into both the truck and the brake controller. Plug and play.
Custom cable made my brake controller installation a simple project. Fit perfectly and took all stress out of the job. I would buy again without hesitation.
Jim W.
5/27/2022
Yup, still working as supposed to. No complaints. Well worth the money.
plug in to factory harness without cutting orvsplicing. saved a couple hours working under dash. worth the cost. unfortunatelt harness adapter, brake controller or some other fault is causing random trailer brake lock-up without applying vehicle brakes at highway speeds, a scary event. unable to troubleshoot as winter snow then heart health issue continue to prevent me from moving trailer to troubleshoot.
I’ve owned 5 brake controllers. This is the only one I’ve disliked. This controller has non digital controls (should have been my first clue it might not be good) it just has two slide controls. Problem is two things, the slide controls themselves are black, the same color as the case on the unit and you can’t even see the position of the slide controls because they blend in with the color of the case. It’s impossible to tell if they’re turned down all the way, turned up all the way, in the middle? The other problem is that the slides are so imprecise, They slide way too easily and there’s no detents and I found if you even bump the unit slightly or are going over rough roads the slide switches migrate. I was towing a couple of weeks ago and I thought I had the switches dialed in as good as I could, I was on some rough roads, due to road construction in the area, the output switch vibrated over to maximum and the next time I hit the brakes , the trailer locked up completely. So I had to turn it off until I could get to the next town where there was a parking lot I could readjust. I’m definitely getting rid of this thing and I definitely recommend you do not buy it. Buy something with digital output controls so you know precisely where the settings are. I firmly believe this controller is dangerous and I know if I keep using it I’m going to get an accident.
Etrailers catalogue provided a complete & accurate description of the 8 items purchased. Placing the order by phone was fast & efficient. Items arrived within 4 working days, no tax no shipping charge. Professional all around.
Pat M.
11/21/2017
The EOH braking system works perfectly. You are my supplier of choice if when I need additional trailer parts on the future.
I installed the Curt TriFlex Brake Controller C51140 along with Wiring Adapter C51362 on my 2012 Tundra. Was super easy. Thanks for video.
Andrew
5/15/2018
Perfect. No issues at all.
The adapter for connecting the trailer brake controller arrived earlier than scheduled. It enabled a quick and easy plug and play connection of the controller to the vehicle.
John
6/21/2020
Worked perfectly - plug and play
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.
Teconsha P3 is an excellent brake controller.
Even better was the customer service from etrailer....I had an issue with another model, called etrailer, and they made it right. No questions asked. Will definitely shop with them again. Thanks, etrailer! -wade
Wade V.
8/5/2016
Love the Tekonsha. Will not buy another Curt. Thanks for asking. And e-trailer was great, especially dealing with the dysfunctional Curt. Thanks.
Well that was the easiest thing I've ever done on a vehicle. The info on the etrailer site was instrumental in this being a quick plug-n-play mount of the Curt brake controller. I watched the two minute video and 10 minutes later I had a new brake controller installed in my 2010 Tundra.
Ed D.
1/19/2016
One year later and the install looks good and the Curt brake controller works as advertised, Im happy!
Fit perfectly on my 2023 Toyota 4Runner
Connected to the OEM plug perfectly, works great on our Sunset 16 ft trailer.
Installed on 2011 Toyota Sequoia - Plug and play as advertised.
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!
Yes I received my order and installed the brake controller. All seems to be
fine, although I have yet to tow with it yet. Here are a couple photos of
the installation in my 2010 Toyota Tundra.
Using the Curt wiring adapter, installing the Curt TriFlex brake control in my 2006 Toyota Tundra was simple after watching your video. Very pleased with everything I ordered from e trailer.
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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Richard S.
9/27/2018
Great. This controller is very consistent in applying dependable braking while towing our travel trailer. After dozens of trips and thousands of miles the unit continues to do the job. Very satisfied.