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Most brake controllers take up a lot of dash space, but this one is only 1" thick and mounts flush with the included bracket. You can install it anywhere at any angle and still have full access to the large manual override. The low-profile shape keeps it out of the way while staying easy to reach when you need it.
Fine-tune how your trailer brakes respond using the two rocker switches on the face of the controller. Gain adjusts from 0.5 to 9.9 in 0.5 increments, setting the maximum braking power. Load adjusts from 1 to 9 to change how quickly that power ramps up. Together they let you dial in smooth, consistent braking whether your trailer is lightly loaded or at full weight.
The bright LED screen shows gain, load, and error codes clearly using numbers and letters. You can adjust brightness or use night mode so it doesn’t glare on your dash after dark. If a problem comes up, the display gives instant feedback to help you troubleshoot without guessing.
The included custom-fit adapter plugs directly into your vehicle’s brake control port—no cutting or splicing required. Once mounted, just connect both ends of the harness and you’re ready to go. Because there’s no permanent wiring, you can easily remove or move the unit later if needed.
The time-delayed system activates your trailer brakes at a preset intensity and rate every time you press the pedal. It’s compatible with electric and electric-over-hydraulic setups on trailers with up to 4 axles (8 brake assemblies). The Discovery NEXT delivers predictable braking that you can tune for comfort or firmness on any trip.
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:
94% were satisfied with this product
6% of customers were not satisfied
Ratings & Reviews
Perfect fit and was exactly what it said it was
I ordered a brake controller and a wiring harness from etrailer for my Nissan Frontier. It was shipped and delivered on time. When I went to install it everything was right and took 10 minutes to install and worked great. This was my first order from etrailer but it won't be my last. It was great to get a good price and great service
This product is easy to install with the correct harnesses. It is relatively basic, but it handled our application quite nicely. I was a complete novice when I started this project and had to learn as I went, but this is a nice brake controller.
Great product!!! Installed in a matter of minutes. Determining where to attach the control took longer than the install. Pulled the trailer on a trip on roads with several steep inclines and applied the trailer brakes sparingly on the decent. Was able to adjust with the proper brake applications needed. Worked great. Made me feel confident that I could control the trailer on any road way. I very much recommend this trailer brake control for two axle trailers.
the black side went into curt triflex excellently. the white side was supposed to be wired for my nissan, just clip in & done. but the wires were not the same and in the wrong sockets of the clip. my electrical man is currently working this out. HOPEFULLY.
etrailers out did my expectations. I ordered a trailer brake controller and pigtail one day, and they were at my doorstep the very next day. Boy, talk about fast. My rig works great , easy as pie setup, good price ( and I did look around), no problems at all. You guys are great. I will be buying from etrailer.com again for any of my trailer and accessories. Great job guys and girls.
Truly plug and go, except at the back of the truck when the trailer plug harness plugged in, the brake wire and power wire were crossed. Research explained that Nissan Frontier's are known for the unconventional switch with aftermarket wiring. I simply cut, switched, soldered. All good now.
The trailer light kit I got was very easy to install with the helpful video and instruction etrailer has. etrailer made it very easy to select the correct trailer accessories for my Frontier. They were helpful when I called and the website is very easy to use! I have made other purchases through etrailer because it is easy to use and they have what I needed all in one place. Thanks!
Ordered gooseneck hitch, wiring harness and break controller for my truck. Perfect fit , easy connections best purchase ever made on internet. Very good price and great customer service! ??
Works perfectly
I ordered this wiring harness because it said it would work with my 2004 Nissan
Titan. It does not. The plug on one end of the harness matches none of the plugs on the truck wiring.
So much easier than cutting wires and crimping butt splices. Plus it make un-installation easier and doesn't void the warranty for the brake controller. the time saved was worth the money for me.
Bri
6/7/2017
One year later and unlike my guitar hero drum kit the insulation on the wires has not cracked and fallen off yet. Plus its nice to be able to unplug the unit from the car.
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.
As always, the etrailer staff came through with the right part for my Nissan.
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!
Easiest way to connect to factory wiring harnesses. Timesaver
Eric
8/27/2025
Still in service after a year. Works perfect and easy to install.
I've had the brake controller in use for over a year in my 2012 Nissan Frontier. The install was easy and took about an hour. My truck is a 2WD model so I mounted the controller in the plug that is used to select between 2WD and 4WD on vehicles equipped with 4WD. So the install look like factory.
Bought this CURT brake controller about a year ago, upgraded from a cheaper model that failed in route (also CURT brand). Have hauled a trailer about 5 times with the new one installed. The manual brake slider does not engage the brakes anymore when you depress it by hand and doesn’t give a digital read out when pushed. Will not buy this brand again. Poor quality.
I installed the Curt C51110 controller with the Plug & Play C51382 into my 2016 Frontier, works perfectly.
Kenny
9/6/2017
ITS BEEN A YEAR SINCE INSTALLATION, ITS BEEN IN THE SAME LOCATION, HAVENT HAD ANY PROBLEMS! GREAT PRODUCT, GREAT PRICE!
Had correct cable to plug right into my vehicle and had good service when I called.
It's perfect. Just plug and play as adv ertised.
Works well on a older truck , the new proportional controllers didn’t seem to be very effective on a older brake system.
Hard to tell. For my 2018 Armada the power input and output was not reaching the controller properly. I took it to a shop that installs Curt products. They added a diode to one of the wires. They told me some vehicles need it some don’t. When the controller was in my Ram, it didn’t. After hours of diagnosis, they strongly believe my vehicle has a wiring problem. In the end I ended up getting the Curt Echo which works. A lot cheaper than going to the dealer to figure out wiring issues.
Just installed a Kurt brake controller which I purchased from Etrailer last year. Having a newer vehicle I needed a different harness which made the install easy.
Do you have a question about this Trailer Brake Controller?
Info for this part was:
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Laura E.
11/8/2017
Thanks for pointing this out, Russell. The factory brake controller plug on some vehicles primarily XE models do not have the 4 pins to match up with the adapter plug. The factory plug will need to be hardwired onto the brake controller adapter that was purchased.