Curt TriFlex NEXT Trailer Brake Controller w/ Custom Harness - 1 to 4 Axles - Proportional
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2019 Ford Fusion
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2019 Ford Fusion
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Smooth, even braking makes towing feel natural. The Curt TriFlex NEXT uses an internal 3-axis accelerometer to sense how your tow vehicle slows down and matches the trailer’s brakes in real time. If you brake gently, it eases in. If you stop hard, the trailer digs in just as firmly. It works with up to 4 axles (8 brake assemblies) and supports both electric trailer brakes. The result is balanced braking across your whole setup—no jolt, no push-pull, just steady control.
Old-style controllers can crowd your knees or stick out awkwardly from the dash. The TriFlex NEXT mounts flush and measures only 1" thick, so it stays out of the way while keeping controls easy to reach. Automatic leveling lets you mount it at nearly any angle, and the included bracket secures it cleanly under the dash for a factory-style look that doesn’t clutter up the cab.
Instead of hidden menus or confusing knobs, the TriFlex NEXT uses simple rocker switches. You can set the gain—the total braking power—on a scale of 0.5 to 9.9 in half-point steps, then fine-tune how quickly that power comes on with a load adjustment from 1 to 9. This means you can dial in smooth stops for an empty trailer or firm braking for a heavy load without guesswork.
When you’re towing after dark, glare can be distracting. The large LED display on this controller is easy to read at a glance and has adjustable brightness plus a night mode that dims automatically. It also shows power output, sensitivity settings, and error codes in plain text so troubleshooting is quick and straightforward.
The TriFlex NEXT keeps your wiring safe with built-in polarity protection, short-circuit defense, and continuous diagnostics that alert you if something isn’t right. It also enters sleep mode after five minutes of inactivity to reduce battery drain, then wakes up instantly when you touch the brakes. That’s peace of mind knowing both your trailer and vehicle are protected every time you tow.
If you don’t already have a 7-way plug at the back of your vehicle, take a look at our exclusive 7- and 4-way brake control installation kit (ETBC7 - sold separately).
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 Triflex Next Trailer Brake Controller. So if you have electric brakes or electric over hydraulic brakes, you're probably already aware that without a brake controller your trailer's brakes won't activate. So they're really not doing you any good. So you are gonna need to have a brake controller. Basically what a brake controller does is when you apply the brakes in your tow vehicle it's gonna send a signal through your brake switch to your brake controller.
The brake controller is then going to send an electrical signal out to your trailer's brakes so that they apply and help to slow down your trailer. There are several different kinds of brake controllers. There's different basic technologies and that sort of thing. Really your two main categories are you have a time delayed set up or you have a proportional setup. So with your time delay, essentially you set how much power you want applied to your brakes and then no matter if you're just tapping your brakes or really slamming on them in an emergency sort of situation, it's going to apply that same preset power each time.
So there are some downsides to that. It doesn't give you as much control. It can be a little aggressive sometimes when you don't need it to be. But then with your proportional setup it is going to apply your trailer's brakes with the same intensity as your tow vehicle's brakes. So if you're just lightly tapping on the brakes it's just going to lightly apply your trailer's brakes.
So proportional systems like this one are definitely my preference. I think they're a little bit more, give a little bit more finesse to your performance. There are some downsides to these. Typically, they are gonna be a little bit more expensive then your time delayed systems just because they do have more components to them. They've got an accelerometer in there that's going to sense the inertia of your movement so that it can apply the brakes proportionally for you.
And then another downside is typically because it does have that inertia sensor in there, or an accelerometer, it's going to have to be mounted in certain configurations to follow your direction of travel. And that's one benefit to this particular model is that it doesn't have to be mounted in any particular configuration. So you can basically mount it wherever you want. So definitely a benefit to this one over even other proportional systems. So for this model specifically, it does have the LED display that's going to show the amount of power output. You can adjust that with your rocker switches here. So very easy to access those. That's going to allow you to adjust between 10 different gain settings. So you can adjust the amount of braking power to suit your performance, the road conditions, the type of trailer you're towing, and the weight of your load. If you select a higher setting for a harder braking and a lower setting for more gradual braking, you do wanna make sure when you're getting that set up a good rule of thumb is to go just shy of where your trailer's brakes lock up. So test it out a few times. As you're going down the road you don't want your trailer's brakes to lock up. So get to that point and then come down just a little bit to get that fine tune where you need it to be. And then typically your gain is only gonna have to be readjusted when you're experiencing changing road conditions or if the weight of your trailer changes. So if you drop off your trailer load and you're needing to you probably need to adjust that gain there. It also gives you nine different load settings so that you can adjust how quickly the brakes will reach their maximum braking level. So if your vehicle takes too long to come to a stop, good idea to increase your setting by pressing the upper rocker switch. And then if it's stopping too abruptly you can decrease the settings as well. So you kind of fine tune it to your preference. We also have the pinch trigger manual override here. So that's within very easy reach, very simple to operate. What that's gonna do is allow you to apply your trailer's brakes without having to apply the brakes in your tow vehicle. So say for instance, if your trailer starts swaying you don't really need to slow down your whole setup you just need to apply the brakes in your trailer to kind of bring that back in line. So you can just push in on that trigger switch there and that will apply your brakes in your trailer without having to apply the brakes in your tow vehicle. This does have several different integrated safeguards to help protect your vehicle, the trailer, and the controller itself. It's going to run continuous diagnostic checks to alert you to any potential problems. It will help to minimize drain on your car battery by entering sleep mode. After about five minutes of inactivity it's gonna help keep your trailer's brakes from overheating by reducing power output when you're sitting for prolonged periods or prolonged stops. So if you're in traffic or something like that it's gonna help decrease the power so your brakes don't overheat. It's also going to defend the brake controller and trailer brake away system against any shorts and prevent positive and negative power reversal with its built-in polarity protection. This is gonna be very quick and easy to get installed. Again because you're not having to worry about the orientation, you can basically just get it mounted wherever it's gonna be most convenient for you to reach and access those controls. They've got this mounting bracket here. As you can see we'll just use the included hardware to get this mounted in place. And then basically our controller just slides onto that so it can be mounted flush with your dash. So very convenient to get that mounted. When you're considering where you can mount this, give you a few measurements here. You can see it is right about three we'll call it three and one eighth of an inch wide. Our length, we're right about four inches long. And our height approximately one inch overall. So keep that in mind and when you're deciding where you can get this mounted. Now as far as wiring goes, that's gonna completely depend on your setup. So there are some vehicles that already have a plug pre-installed from the factory that will allow you to just plug this right in there. If you don't have that on your vehicle, there are some kits available that will allow you to make that installation process pretty simple. But they are very vehicle specific. So I'd encourage you to use 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 are confirmed to fit with your vehicle. So that's another route to go. If your vehicle isn't already pre-wired with a plug then I would recommend that. Otherwise, it is gonna take a little bit of doing to get this installed. If you don't already have a seven way plug at the back of your vehicle, I would highly recommend using our ETBC seven plug that's gonna provide wiring and everything to get you set up so that you've got that connection so that your trailer can connect to your vehicle. But overall, a really great option here. Like I said, I really like the proportional system. The way this is going to allow your trailer's brakes to be applied at the same intensity as your tow vehicle. I like that this model gives you that option to have more versatility and where you get it mounted. And so overall, I think this is gonna be a great way to go if you are needing a brake controller for your trailer's brakes. And that completes our look for today. Again, I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Thanks for watching.
Customer Satisfaction Score:
97% were satisfied with this product
3% of customers were not satisfied
Ratings & Reviews
Very easy to install. Instructions were very clear products worked as intended very satisfied.
The Curt electric brake controller was the easiest installation I have ever had. I ordered the custom wiring adapter along with the brake controller; it all came with easy to follow instructions and it only took about 30 minutes to install the entire unit. I had done some checking around to get estimates from various companies which do the installations and their costs were around $300.00. The Curt unit including the adapter wiring was $**.00 and a very easy install. I used the brake controller during a recent camping trip on which I was pulling a 24 foot camp trailer. The controller worked great and I could easily control the trailer in some extreme mountainous terrains in Wyoming.
All the information I needed was on your site. Got the correct adapter cable and was able to just plug in the controller.
I’ve use the electric brake system several times over the last year. I was impressed at how easy it was to use, and how much safer it was when braking. It was easy to install and worked great
Easy to install, had no glitches. Replace an older brake controller.
Perfect !!!
This unit took less than 10 minutes to install and works flawlessly with my Grand Cherokee while pulling a Travel Trailer. Plus its low profile design made it easy to install by the hood release so I don't have a big box and display on top of my dashboard. Great product at the right price. Highly recommend this brake controller and etrailer.
Works well. The connector I got from e trailer which fits other older model Audi’s wasn’t listed to fit the 2024 Audi but fit perfectly. The Curt Triflex is an easy to use brake controller. Highly recommend!
Arrived as planed and was much smaller then my old clunky one. The custom cable harness was easy to install. Finding a flat spot to mount the controller took the longest to find the perfect spot. I gave a five stars because every was as it said. (Plug and play)
Quality product good price fast delivery exactly as described..
Pluged in perfect, absolutely recommend
Connected right up and seems to work for me ‘05 1500HD.
Great brake controller for the price. Easy to install with the video. Customer service was very prompt and kind.
Easy to install. Plug and play.
Eli made it really easy to place my order. I have received my order and have already installed it into my truck.
Took a while to figure it out. Have a 2003 Dodge van. Had to tow in package but didn’t have any wiring factory installed other than for the seven way. Paul it was great identifying what I need and sending it to me. Thank you very much.
Easy install. Does a good job of controlling the trailer brakes. Took a star as it annunciates a short condition under certain conditions. The short is merely a ground path back through the vehicle lamps. Too sensitive?
Works excellent! Very easy install with the correct pigtail harness.
Installed in a 2005 gmc sierra. Install was plug and play,setup was as easy and worked great stopping a 7500 lb. Dual axle snowmobile trailer.
I really like this controller this is the second one I have on two different vehicles
This is a new model of the Curt TriFlex brake controller. As a replacement for the previous unit, it was nice to be able to install it without rewiring. The new model has a more modern style digital display that is easier to read and less annoying. The button controls are a bit less obvious than the previous model, so it takes a little effort to figure out how to adjust the system. Overall, I think it's a better unit that the previous models.
The controller arrived on time and took less than five minutes to install. It works well with my RV.
Fast shipping great service and knowledgeable staff definitely recommend doing business here.
Fit my 2005 2500 4x4 6.0 Chevy Silverado and triflex next controller and worked perfectly.
This mounts and works great. My truck 2007 1500 Classic 4x4 with trailer package does not have a plug and play harness. I had to cut the adapter and splice the wires. This is not the parts fault. It took an extra 10 min.
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Pete D.
7/28/2017
Still works great after a year no problems at all.