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The Curt Discovery NEXT fits cleanly under the dash or anywhere you want it. At only 1" thick, it doesn’t crowd your knees or clutter your interior. The included flush-mount bracket keeps it snug against the dash, and because it’s a time-delayed design, there are no angle restrictions on how you mount it. You can easily reach the large manual override trigger without taking your eyes off the road.
You set both the strength and responsiveness of your trailer brakes using two rocker switches. The orange switch adjusts gain from 0.5 to 9.9 in 0.5-point steps, controlling how much power goes to the brakes. The black switch adjusts load from 1 to 9 to set how quickly that power ramps up. Once dialed in, the controller sends just the right amount of braking to handle up to 4 axles (8 brake assemblies), giving you steady control no matter the load.
The large LED display shows clear numbers and letters for easy visibility day or night. You can adjust brightness or use night mode to reduce glare after dark. It also displays simple error codes if something needs attention, so you can troubleshoot without guessing.
The custom harness plugs directly into your vehicle’s factory brake control port—no cutting or splicing required. Once connected, the other end clicks into the Discovery NEXT controller for a clean, removable installation. Because nothing is hardwired, you can unplug it to store or transfer it anytime.
When parked, the Discovery NEXT saves power by entering sleep mode after five minutes of inactivity. That way you don’t have to worry about battery drain between trips—just hitch up and tow when you’re ready.
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:
96% were satisfied with this product
4% of customers were not satisfied
Ratings & Reviews
Great part. Works perfect with my 2014 f150 and curt brake controller.
The cable was easy to install. Made the brake controller installation seemless.
Product was delivered on time as stated. Had a few issues on my end that tech walked me thru. Easy connection, working great. Thanks etrailer for all you do.
Good service
This adapter from my Curt brake controller to my 2015 Ford Flex was a perfect match. Thank you very much!
Exactly what I needed. It worked great and arrived in 3 days right before an 1600 mile trip. It plugged right into my trailer brake harness and was easy to install. Took me less than a minute.
The cable assembly made installation quick and easy, all I had to do was locate the Ford supplied connector in my F150. The cable assembly supplied by Curt plugs into the Ford provided connector. Plug the opposite end of the Curt supplied cable into the controller and the electrical installation is complete. Note: the Ford supplied connector has a protective cover on it, you have to remove this cover before this Curt connector will plug in.
Installing and using the Curt trailer brake controller was simple and worked perfectly. I Can say the same about the customer service at etrailer. And will certainly be using them both
Made install easy. I ran my own 12 ga wire to 7 pin connector for trailer brakes. I couldnt find the fuse and or relay needed for my 2011 F150 to complete factory circuit. I NEEDED the trailer the next day with a 3,000 lb tractor on it. Worked well.
Researched, purchased and installed a hitch and brake controller for my 2009 F-150. It was so much easier using etrailer. I have recommended them to several friends for their towing needs.
This pigtail that Dan T. with e-trailer help me get order an shipped worked perfectly. It was a custom fit for 2016 F-150 w/ no tow pkg and a Curt 51120 brake controller. This will almost complete my conversion of my truck that had no tow pkg. In the end it will help my daughter tow her Shooting S barrel horse safely to the shows. Thank you Dan T.
The Curt wiring adapter for my 2009 Ford F-150 plugged into the controller and the truck connector under the dashboard exactly as it should have. It works great.
Etrailer provided outstanding information regarding the technical details of the product along with easy to understand installation instructions. The brake controller provided a cost effective solution for my basic requirements. The installation was a "snap", the only time consuming task was determining the optimal location/position install the brake controller. Item was installed in a 2013 Ford F150 and I use it on a dual axle trailer for hauling a compact Kubota tractor.
Excellent - no hesitation in making that evaluation
I bought a brake controller, interface cable for the F150, and the 7 pin plug that goes on the back bumper. All items are great quality. Parts arrived as expected with shipping as paid for. I am installing the equipment, but don't have any issues. There were no installation instructions, however these are available on line line detail. I do not expect any operational probems but am a few days from making that test.
Just as described. With truck specific wiring harness, installation was simple. Highly recommend!
I purchased the C51436 adapter to install the C51130 trailer brake controller in my 2010 Ford pickup. Everything worked as stated. Good products from a good company with quick service.
Larry M.
2/8/2018
I am very happy with all of my purchases from etrailer. The products are still working fine after a year and your company is very good to work with. Any future needs I have will be purchased at etrailer.
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.
Exactly what I paid for with fast shipping at a good price. Everything looks great and works perfectly.
Kenneth
2/12/2025
Still doing exactly what it is supposed to do. My only hint to you is, unless you have a photographic memory, do NOT throw away the quick reference card.
Jameson C.
2/12/2025
Probably works fine for some vehicles just not my truck
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!
This is a perfect fit for our E450 RV chassis. It made the install a five minute job.
Kate M. my salesperson, had a most professional interaction with me being certain of my and my vehicle's needs. In addition, she walked me through the complete installation process. This I completed, wiring the 7-way and the Curt Discovery Controller making no errors along the way. On the first test, every terminal on the 7-way tested as it should. When we came home with the RV from the dealer, all the lights and the brakes worked flawlessly. Many thanks!!
Adapted Curt brake controller for my 2014 Ford F150 STX without any problems. Just find your Ford brake control connector behind the coin slot on the left side of the dash and plug it in.
Tommy J.
1/31/2015
After a year of using the Curt brake controller it has been by far the best one of several I have used and installed. i highly recommend the controller.
Works well on a older truck , the new proportional controllers didn’t seem to be very effective on a older brake system.
Info for this part was:
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John Y.
2/19/2018
perfectly satisfied