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Cab space is tight, and no one wants a bulky box in the way. The Curt Venturer NEXT mounts flush to the dash with its included bracket and measures only 4" long, 3-1/8" wide, and 1" thick. You can install it at any angle since it’s not inertia-based. That means full freedom to mount it wherever it’s easiest to reach without cramping your knees or cluttering your interior.
When you hit the brakes, this controller applies power to your trailer brakes at a preset intensity and rate. The rocker switches let you easily fine-tune both gain (overall power) and load (how quickly that power builds). Dial in smoother stops for lighter trailers or harder braking for heavy loads. Once it’s set, you get predictable braking every time.
The LED display keeps things simple with bar indicators showing brake settings and error messages so you can troubleshoot at a glance. Brightness adjusts automatically, and there’s a night mode to cut glare after dark. You’ll always know exactly how much braking you’re sending to the trailer—no squinting or guessing required.
Splicing wires is no fun, and with the included custom-fit harness, you don’t have to. Just plug one end into your vehicle’s factory brake control port and the other into the Venturer NEXT. It’s a quick, clean hookup that gets you towing faster. No cutting or hardwiring needed.
Whether you’re running electric or electric-over-hydraulic trailer brakes, this controller has you covered. It works with trailers up to 3 axles (6 brake assemblies) and is compatible with ABS, cruise control, and PWM systems. That wide range means reliable braking performance across different trailer setups without extra adapters or adjustments.
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.
Customer Satisfaction Score:
98% were satisfied with this product
2% of customers were not satisfied
Ratings & Reviews
Jim S.
4/1/2015
works like is it suppose too, not any problems
Jim S.
4/1/2015
hooked right up and not any problems. 2013 F250 connectors were behind the coin
Kenneth T.
9/16/2017
Works great
Sierra K.
9/1/2021
I see that you ordered the C51140 brake controller with the C51432 adapter. Since you said you have a factory 7 way, the adapter will plug into the built-in port behind your vehicles dash. If you cannot find the built-in port and are not sure if you have a factory 7 way, you can call a local dealer with your vin number and they will tell you. Please note, if your vehicles 7-Way trailer connector has LED test lights built into it, the TriFlex brake controller will not be compatible.
Katrina D.
2/21/2024
I have gotten in contact with the manufacturer and I see that part # C51432 (Curt Custom Wiring Adapter for Trailer Brake Controllers) is only a confirmed fit for the 2014 e350 Super Duty, not the 2024. So, it does not seem like it was your installer wiring it incorrectly. I am sending in this information to our fit guide team for them to get this corrected on our site. I am sorry for the inconvenience, let me know if there is anything I can do for you.
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Heather A.
5/26/2026
Your install looks great! What kind of trailer are you towing?