LED Headlight

Should I convert to LED headlights?

You should definitely do your research on them first. Lots of people have been disappointed when it comes to LED headlight conversions. However, LED technology has been improving steadily since that first red LED back in 1962 and continues to do so. While the high powered LEDs required for headlights are relatively new, efficiency and performance is always getting better and prices continue to drop, making them more attractive every day.

It's a whole lot easier to grab a brand new sealed beams from Walmart for $9 or https://amzn.to/3d0PXtO and have a new housing/lens/etc than to mess with LEDs, but for some it may be worth the change.

Do I need to do any wiring modifications for converting to LED headlights?

This depends on how the LED lights are set up. Converting to an LED headlight can be a bit of a pain due to the way our vans are wired and the fact that LEDs are polarity sensitive. Regular/stock incandescent bulbs are not polarity sensitive so they don't care which side is positive and which side is negative.

For the newer vans(need to see what/when changes occurred) when the headlights are on, both filaments for each light have 12v+ going to them. The system then grounds out either the high beam circuit or the low beam circuit depending on which filament is being used. In other words you have 1 power wire and two grounds(1 for high, 1 for low) running to each light.

A lot of LED lights that you will see being sold for conversions have 1 ground wire and two 12v+ wires(one for high, one for low) for each light. You have to wire it using relays so that when the system grounds out each circuit, it instead controls the positive side going to each light.

Here is a cheap ready made kit as well: https://amzn.to/2DzpApw or https://amzn.to/37zj15X

Here is a quick and dirty diagram for wiring a relay to each light, based on the wiring of a 2000 Astro/Safari van. Vehicle wiring colors vary by side/year/etc and the below diagram colors don't mean anything specific for any vehicle, look at your own wiring diagrams or test for your particular application.

Note: The pink wire is the switched high beam ground on the 2000 Astro/Safari I used to base the following diagram on: