Getting to the workshop
About 9.3 km in a straight line from the workshop on Avenue 8, Salmabad.
The straight-line distance from the centre of Sitra island to the workshop is about 9.3 km. The drive is longer than that, because Sitra is an island and the route has to cross back onto Bahrain Island and round Tubli Bay.
Sitra is linked to Bahrain Island by the Sitra Causeway at the north, which runs to Nabih Saleh and on to Umm al Hussam, and by two smaller bridges on the south-west near the villages of Ma'ameer and Eker. The causeway bridges were rebuilt in the second half of the 2000s, in part because the original piling was judged inadequate for 40-tonne trucks, which had to be diverted.
From the island's villages the usual routing runs along Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah Highway and then Estiqlal Highway, heading west towards Isa Town and Salmabad. Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah Highway forms part of the north–south link that joins Manama, the Sitra industrial area and the Southern Governorate.
Because it is a longer trip than most, it is worth sending a WhatsApp message to +973 3822 4822 with your tyre size and what the car is doing before you set out.
Industrial roads, loaded trucks and metal on the carriageway
The northern section of Sitra is an industrial area, and its roads carry the traffic that goes with it: tankers, container movements to and from the Port of Sitra, and plant vehicles. Carriageways that take constant heavy axle loads rut and break up at the edges and around junctions, and those are exactly the surfaces that split sidewalls and move wheel angles out of specification.
Industrial areas are also where tyres pick up metal. Nails, wire, swarf and offcuts of sheet travel out of yards on truck tyres and end up on the carriageway, and a puncture from something like that often seals itself well enough to look like nothing at all until the tyre is flat in the morning. If a tyre on a Sitra-based car needs topping up regularly, there is usually something in it.
The island's villages, among them Wadyan, Marquban, Mahazza, Sufala and Abul Aish, are old and close-built, with narrow lanes between the industrial roads and the shoreline. That mix of tight manoeuvring and salt-laden sea air is why wheel and brake corrosion, and slow leaks at the rim rather than in the tread, are worth looking for on a car from here. The island is also split administratively: its southern part belongs to the Southern Governorate and its northern part to the Capital Governorate.
Tyre prices by size
Check an indicative price range for your tyre size before you set off, then call or WhatsApp us for the latest prices and our best discounted rate with fitting. Find your size ↗
Questions, answered.
How far is Wagon Wheel from Sitra?
About 9.3 km in a straight line from the centre of Sitra island. The road distance is longer than that, because the route has to leave the island and go round Tubli Bay.
Which roads lead from Sitra to Salmabad?
Off the island and then west. Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah Highway runs along the Sitra corridor, Estiqlal Highway carries you west towards Isa Town, and Salmabad is reached from there. Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah Highway forms part of the north–south link joining Manama, the Sitra industrial area and the Southern Governorate.
My tyres keep picking up punctures around the Sitra industrial area. Can a puncture always be repaired?
No. Whether a puncture can be repaired depends on where it is and how large it is: damage in the sidewall or the shoulder, or a cut beyond the repairable size, means the tyre has to be replaced. The tyre is taken off the rim and inspected from the inside before that is decided, because a tyre that has been run flat can be damaged internally even when the hole itself looks repairable.
Is it worth coming all the way from Sitra?
That is your call. What we would say is that it makes sense to make the trip once with everything done in the same visit, rather than twice: tyres fitted, wheels balanced and a Hunter 3D alignment measured against your own car's specification. Message us on WhatsApp on +973 3822 4822 beforehand with the tyre size on your sidewall and the symptom you want looked at.