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Cab space can be limited, and bulky controllers can get in the way. This compact unit is only 1" thick and mounts flush with the dash using the included bracket and hardware. Because it’s a time-delayed controller, there are no mounting angle restrictions. You can place it wherever it’s easiest to reach the manual override without cluttering up your interior.
Dialing in your trailer brakes is straightforward with separate rocker switches for gain and load. The orange rocker adjusts gain on a scale of 0.5 to 9.9 in 0.5-point steps, setting the maximum braking power. The black rocker sets load from 1 to 9 to control how fast that power ramps in. Together they let you match braking performance to your trailer weight, road surface, or driving style so you get confident, stable stops every time.
The large LED display shows settings as numbers and letters so it’s easy to read while driving. You can adjust brightness or turn on night mode so it doesn’t glare. The display also provides error messages to help with quick troubleshooting if something doesn’t feel right. It automatically goes into sleep mode after five minutes to prevent draining the battery when parked.
No splicing or cutting is needed with the included custom-fit harness. It plugs directly into your vehicle’s factory brake control port and into the controller for a clean connection. Installation takes minutes, and since it’s not hardwired, you can unplug and move it to another vehicle whenever you need to.
Designed for trailers with up to 4 axles (8 brake assemblies), this controller works with both electric and electric-over-hydraulic brake systems. It’s compatible with low-volt, PWM, ABS, and cruise control setups, giving you reliable performance across different towing conditions. The large pinch-trigger manual override is easy to grab when quick braking input is needed, keeping full control at your fingertips.
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:
98% were satisfied with this product
2% of customers were not satisfied
Ratings & Reviews
I HAVE RECIEVED AND INSTALLED THE TRAILER BRAKE /WIRE HARNESS AND THE 7 PIN TRAILER LIGHT ASSEMBLY AND ALL IS WORKING PERFECT. VERY EASY TO UNDERSTAND INSTRUCTIONS AND INSTALLATION. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.!!!
A match to factory electrical fittings etrailer sales staff know their products. Pig tail was used in installation of trailer break. Joel in Iowa
I finally got around to installing my new brake controller. It was very easy and I had it installed in about 15 minutes. I used one of the bolts under the dash to mount it so I didn't even drill any holes. Still need to do a few more test runs with my trailer with different weight loads.
Installed it on my LR-4. The dual axle Alum Trailer (Aluma) works great so far! Only a few Land Rover dealerships will install the trailer Brake system. Trailer dealers want touch Land Rovers?? That's why 4 stars. $350 to get it installed!! LR Fort Worth,Texas
I purchased this along with the Curt C51140 controller and 7 way harness to replace the mess that was spliced in on my truck when I bought it. Don't bother with splicing your controller in. Buy this harness, plug it in, don't look back. Service was great.
Product worked liked a charm!! I have a 2010 Ford Explorer XLT, and the Curt brake controller with the factory adapter cable was a perfect fit!
Note: Even though it doesn't specifically say on the etrailer website, the adapter connector WILL fit a 2010 Ford Explorer that has a Factory Tow package installed. The factory connector is located next to the steering column underneath the kickboard. It is kinda of hidden away, but it's up and next toe the brake pedal switch connector.
After a little research by the etrailer team it was determined this was the correct cable for a 2013 Tiffin Allegro with a pre wired 7 pin plug to go itch the Curt controller. The team worked and researched and was great with customer service.
This cable made the job very easy. took 10 minutes to plug in and mount with Curt Venturer Brake Controller. Very inexpensive solution. This is an old vehicle (2001 Expedition) and didn't want to put a lot of money into a brake controller setup. These parts and directions from the website made it quick, easy and inexpensive. I have not towed with the controller yet.
Made installation in a Land Rover Discovery Sport a breeze! Note: This option isn’t listed on either Curt or eTrailer, but it is absolutely an option if you have the factory installed OEM trailer tow package. Your factory tow package must be dealer activated in your vehicle’s software to use the quick connect harness shown here.
Total plug and play. Zero cutting, splicing or tapping required! Fantastic.
TIP: Select your model year and Land Rover Evoque (Shares the same chassis and tow electrics as the Discovery Sport) if you want the right part numbers for your quick connect options.
This is well worth the money. The cord ends appear to be high quality and fit the wiring connectors on the truck and brake controller perfectly. It makes hooking up your new Curt brake controller as easy as plugging in a cord. The only way to make this any easier is to have someone do it for you. The hardest part of the whole installation was finding the factory connector to plug this cord into. Hint: On my 2004 Ford F150, the brake controller connector was just above the factory diagnostic port underneath the dash.
We purchased our new Ford Explorer with the towing package but the dealership said it didn't come with a trailer brake controller and nothing was made for our SUV so we would have to get an aftermarket controller and have them run the wiring. After looking online I found a video on etrailer.com and it was just as easy as the video to install, the hardest part was finding the Ford plug under the dash, very happy with this product and ready to haul our RV everywhere.
Plugged right in to my 2003 Ford F-150, and other end into the Curt Venturer brake controller. Worked great.
Made installation a snap. Just mount the break controller, plug one end into the vehicle's factory plug and the other end into the break controller.
Nicholas
8/3/2020
Still working great
Excellent. Perfect fit, exactly what was needed. Connected the Curt C51110 Brake control to factory wiring. Only thing that could make it better is if it came with someone to plug it in for me and save me 10 seconds.
Mike R.
1/28/2015
The products worked great up until about a few weeks ago Thats when I sold the truck where the items were installed. lol. Really though, I very much liked how the products listed and purchased from etrailer.com were easy to find, fit exactly as described, and performed as needed. etrailer.com is always one of the first places I look when searching for items for my new truck.
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.
Installation pics on my Ford F-150
Plugged right in to my expeditions factory plug quick easy install.
Connected to the OEM plug perfectly, works great on our Sunset 16 ft trailer.
works greatthanks
The Curt wiring adapter was fine, however our coach was not wired with a plug in the harness, so installation required a little wiring work to complete. No big issue, the product was great
Great job came on time. Installed easily. Works great. Better still is the service from etrailer. New what I needed for my truck. Deserves repeat business
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!
Everything was as described. Easy easy installation in 10 minutes. Not the top of the line controller but it's all I need. Very fast shipping as well. Couldn't be more happy with etrailer. I will be purchasing my fifth through etrailer soon!
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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Rmt
5/20/2015
so far so good. no issues.