Simple and compact, this proportional brake controller has an intuitive design that's easy to use. Includes a simple digital display, 10 gain settings, a pinch-trigger manual override, and built-in safety features.
Features:
Specs:
The LED display on the TriFlex is large and easy to read at a glance. It will show you what setting the brake controller is on as well as give you information for troubleshooting. You can adjust the screen brightness or trigger night mode so it won't glare obnoxiously on your dash.
To change any of the settings, press the silver mode button on the front of the brake controller and which mode you are currently on will show on the LED display. When you're on the setting you want to adjust, use the black rocker switch next to the mode button to adjust it up or down.
Gain control lets you set the maximum amount of power that will be applied to your trailer's brakes, adjusting in increments of 0.5. How much braking output you need is determined by the weight of your trailer; a heavier trailer will need more power to bring it to a stop. You want to go as high as you can without the trailer brakes locking up. Typically, the gain is only readjusted when you experience changing road conditions or if the weight of your trailer changes. To get more power to your brakes, press the upper rocker switch. To decrease the gain, press the lower switch. When you make your adjustment, the gain setting will show on the LED screen for 10 seconds and then go into sleep mode.
Once you have the gain set, you can fine-tune your braking by adjusting the load control on a scale of 1 to 9. This controls the aggressiveness of your trailer's braking, meaning how quickly the brakes reach the maximum braking level. Load control can get the braking power to your trailer faster and with more intensity so that it doesn't push your tow vehicle forward. If your vehicle takes too long to come to a stop, increase the setting by pressing the upper rocker switch. If it stops too abruptly, decrease the setting by pressing the lower switch. You can alter the setting to suit your driving preferences or to improve handling based on changing road conditions or varied trailer loads.
The TriFlex comes with a easy-to-reach, pinch-trigger manual override, great for stopping sway or controlling your trailer's momentum in emergencies. To engage the manual override, just push in the trigger. This will activate the trailer's brakes and brake lights without you having to apply the brakes on your tow vehicle, perfect for limiting trailer movement while you're cruising.
The TriFlex offers key safety features to prevent damage to various components of your towing setup. This starts with built-in protection against shorts and positive and negative power reversal, as well as continous diagnostic checks to alert you to any potential problems as they come up. To minimize the drain on your vehicle's battery, the TriFlex will automatically go into sleep mode after 5 minutes of inactivity. Sleep mode will turn off again the moment you press the brake pedal.
Automatic leveling means you can mount the unit at any angle. Your mounting options are limitless, so long as you can still easily access the controller and the manual override. The included bracket is designed to mount the brake controller flush to the dash so it takes up almost no space at all.
The included custom-fit adapter plugs into the port on your vehicle's built-in brake control wiring harness, which you should find beneath your dash, near the center console. Once you're plugged into your factory port, just plug the other end of the adapter into the TriFlex. No hardwiring needed!
Note: 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 controller installation kit (ETBC7 - sold separately).
The Curt TriFlex NEXT brake controller comes equipped with proportional braking to give you the best towing experience. Proportional braking means that your trailer brakes mimic your tow vehicle's brakes. If you slam on the brakes in your vehicle, your trailer brakes will activate with the same intensity; if you brake lightly, your trailer brakes lightly too. The trailer's braking is in proportion to your vehicle's braking. This saves wear and tear on the tires and the brakes on both your vehicle and trailer.
The TriFlex uses an internal 3-axis accelerometer to sense how your vehicle is braking so it can send the right amount of braking power to your trailer. It measures the inertia of your tow vehicle and activates the trailer's brakes to slow at the same rate. The result is uniform braking across your towing setup. No push-pull action - just smooth, proportional braking every time.
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.
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)
All the information I needed was on your site. Got the correct adapter cable and was able to just plug in the controller.
Excellent product. Easy install. Customer service was exceptional with real-time communications every step of the way. Highly recommend e-trailer for any of your trailering needs.
This brake controller works great!
Works great and was an easy plug and play installation.
Josh was excellent in listening and helping discuss my options. The trailer brake improved my driving and safety tremendously with a 14k dump trailer. Thanks, Josh.
Excellent product, easy installation just as described. Good quality as expected from E trailer.
Wrong wiring harness. Impatient while I asked questions about the purchase of a complete brake package. I just wanted to know my options.
Instant fit, plug and play!
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!
The product I ordered was not available. There was a suggestion for another product, without the full knowledge that there are multiple other products, and I was only given one choice. It is what it is, if I knew of options, I would’ve made a different choice. Not a great company in terms of knowledge and service
The control works great. The reason for knocking off a star is that the control rattles whenever there is a vibration in the truck. While annoying, it doesn't affect the operation.
They are the best at what they do. They found the parts I needed and got them to me the next day. I appreciate the dedication to their customers. This product worked for my 1997 Ford F350 with the factory-installed tow package.
I have not used this device yet but I have installed it. It looks kool. I hope installation orientation doesn't matter too much.
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
The service and speed of delivery has always been great, thank you E Trailer.
Plugged right in to my expeditions factory plug quick easy install.
easy to install , at least on a Honda r idge-line
Great product timely delivery
Never a problem with etrailer
Extremely easy to install and small enough to not be in the way. Works great as well….highly recommend.
Very fast and efficient good luck ordering from them thanks.
Scratched screen straight out of the package/from the factory. Haven't installed yet. Super fast shipping!!
As advertised- very easy to install!
Easy set up, great customer service!
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