Headlight Relays

The easiest way to supply the maximum available power to your van's headlamps is to add a set of headlight relays.  A properly designed set of headlight relays will help to increase the amount of light coming out of your headlamps in two basic ways:

1)  The relay acts as an electromagnetic bridge that re-route's the electrical load away from the headlight on/off switch on your van's dash.  The lack of factory headlight relays is a well known weak spot in the design of the Vanagon's electrical system.  This design flaw often results in a melted headlight switch and/or ignition switch. 

After installing relays, the van's headlight switch will only be used to trigger the relay to turn on.  The electrical load will also be removed from the hi/low dimmer selector, as well as the ignition switch.  The reduced electrical load on these parts will allow all of them to run cooler and last longer.

2)  The overall length of the electrical path running from the battery to your headlights will be shorter and the wires carrying the current out to your headlamps will be heavier gauge (thicker).  This reduces some of the voltage restrictions inherent in the stock system and provides more juice to the bulbs. 

Your relays will hook directly to the fuse block of your van and will be protected by the stock fuse locations.

For the ultimate in relay protection for your van's electrical system, be sure to check out The Switch Saver Master Kit at the top left of this page.  The Master Kit includes a complete set of headlight relays and a complete hard start relay kit for a much lower price than buying the kits separately.

Select the relays for the model year of your van from the menu on the left.

1980-1985 Vanagon Headlight Relays.

  1986-1991 Vanagon Headlight Relays.