Atlas WB49-2 PRO: a third gauge, so the operator stops typing

The WB49-2 PRO is the version of this balancer that measures rim width by itself. That is the single mechanical difference worth paying for, and it is worth understanding before you choose between the two machines on this site. A balancer needs three numbers before it can calculate a correction: distance from the machine to the rim, rim diameter, and rim width. The standard WB49-2 captures the first two automatically with its inner gauge and asks the operator to key in the third. The PRO adds a second gauge that reads width off the outer flange, so all three arrive without anyone touching the keypad.

Whether that matters comes down to who is running it. A width figure typed from memory, or read off a tyre that is still on the rim, is the commonest source of a wheel that comes back with a rattle at speed, and it is invisible: the machine reports a confident answer to a wrong question. On a bay doing a handful of wheels a week, the keypad is fine. On a bay doing forty, removing that step removes forty opportunities to be a quarter-inch out, and it removes them from whoever happens to be standing at the machine that afternoon.

The rest of the specification is the same premium platform: an LED display raised to standing eye level, a large weight tray, a lamp that lights the inside of the rim while the weight is being placed, and a split-weight mode that divides a single correction into two smaller weights that hide behind the spokes on an alloy wheel a customer paid a lot of money for.

Will It Fit — your wheels, and your shop

Two separate fit questions, and neither is about floor space in the usual sense.

• What it will take. Rims from 10 inches to 32 inches, rim widths from 1 1/2 inches to 20 inches, and an assembled tyre up to 39 inches across.
• Centre bore. Four cones are supplied and they cover centre holes from 1.75 inches to 5.18 inches. Measure the bore of your most awkward wheel against those two numbers before you order. Bigger bores and heavily offset wheels are handled by the Light Truck Adapter Kit, which is a separate purchase — a larger cone plus a spacer, not part of this crate.
• Wheel weight. Rated to 150 lbs. The original copy on this page makes a point that is unusual for a manufacturer to make and worth repeating: a shaft that will carry 150 lbs is not the same as a machine that will balance 150 lbs accurately, and those two claims are frequently printed as one.
• The shaft is 40mm, the standard cone and adapter fitment.
• Power and floor. A 110 volt supply and a 1/4 HP motor — one ordinary outlet, no three-phase, no electrician. It needs no anchor-down installation, which is the reason it can go into a leased unit, a mobile setup or a corner you may want back later.
• Delivery weight is 400 lbs, crated. Read the shipping section below before you pick a delivery address.

Confirming that your wheels, your outlet and your access route suit the machine is the buyer's responsibility. Send us your worst-case wheel dimensions and we will check them against the list above in writing before you order.

It diagnoses its own faults

The WB49-2 PRO self-diagnoses and puts an error code on the display, and it self-calibrates. That sounds like a footnote and it is not. On a machine without it, a balancer drifting out of calibration looks exactly like a run of customers with bent rims, and the diagnosis usually arrives with an invoice attached. Here the operator gets a code, checks it against the manual, and a good proportion of what goes wrong turns out to be something a shop can put right itself. For an independent workshop a day's wait for a technician is the expensive part of a fault, not the part.

Automation that stays out of the way

Auto-positioning stops the wheel at the weight position rather than leaving the operator to nudge it round by hand. The hood starts and stops the cycle as it is lowered and raised. There is an automatic brake with a pedal override. Balancing runs at 150 RPM, resolution is 1 gram, and weight position resolves to 1.4 degrees. Static and dynamic modes are both there, along with a rapid optimisation routine for the wheel that will not settle — the one that tells you to rotate the tyre on the rim rather than adding more lead. Readouts switch between grams and ounces, and between millimetres and inches, which matters more than it sounds if your technicians trained in different places.

Perfect For

• A tyre bay with more than one operator. Automatic width entry takes the most error-prone step away from whoever is on the machine that day.
• Alloy-wheel work. Split-weight placement and the internal lamp are aimed squarely at wheels where a visible weight is a complaint.
• A leased or shared unit. No floor anchoring, one 110 volt outlet.
• A serious home or club workshop running its own wheels and tyres.

What is in the box

Per the feature list on this page: a plastic quick-release nut, four centering cones, wheel weight pliers and measuring calipers. Not included, and commonly assumed: the Light Truck Adapter Kit, and wheel weights themselves. Atlas states replacement parts and wear items are kept in stock, which is the practical difference between a machine that is down for a day and one that is down for a month.

Certification, stated plainly

No third-party safety listing or conformity marking is claimed for this balancer anywhere in our product data, and we are not going to imply one. If an insurer, a franchise agreement or a local authority requires a particular listing for the equipment in your bay, ask us in writing before ordering and we will put the question to Atlas rather than guess on their behalf.

Shipping and delivery

This is a freight shipment inside the lower 48 states, quoted live at checkout rather than printed here, because freight rates move. Two things decide whether delivery day goes well. First, unloading is yours to arrange: a freight truck will not lift the crate off the trailer for you, so you need a forklift, a skid steer or a comparable machine at the delivery address, or you take the shipment at the carrier terminal instead. Tell us which before it ships. Second, inspect before you sign. Walk the crate, look for crushed corners, punctures, shifted banding and oil marks, and write anything you find on the delivery receipt before the driver leaves. A signed clean receipt is the carrier's proof that the freight arrived undamaged, and a concealed-damage claim raised afterwards is a far harder argument than three words written on the paperwork. Residential delivery is available and carries a residential fee. Warehouse pickup is available at our stocking locations if you would rather collect it.

Warranty

Atlas publishes 1 year, parts only for this machine. Wear items — cones, covers, pliers, anything consumable — are the part of a balancer warranty that is usually carved out separately, and no separate wear-item period is published on this page. Ask us to confirm that in writing before you buy if it matters to you. If something fails, contact us before you take the machine apart: a unit that has been opened up is the most common reason a valid claim gets declined.