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Relays come in various types, but the basic, $5 at radioshack model is probably what you want to use. A relay turns on and off one circuit based on whether another circuit is on or off. Basically when you have a 12v drop across one set of terminals, the other circuit closes. When you don't have 12v, the other circuit is open.
You run the hot from the battery to a terminal on the relay. The matching terminal goes to the headlights. So now when the relay is turned on, the headlights have the power going to them. To turn on the relay you hook the hot from the "on" position of your headlight switch to one terminal, and ground to the other. You turn your switch on, the current runs to ground through the relay, which flips the switch to turn on your headlight circuit... You have now wired your headlights so the same current that flows to the lights doesn't flow through the switch.
Obviously you have to hook all 4 wires up to the right terminals, but there should be a diagram that accompanies the relay. There will be 2 circuits. One with a coil and one with a switch. The switch is the switched circuit. The coil is the controlling circuit.
Hope that made sense.
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