A basic understanding of dynamic tire tread response is provided and the information is incorporated in a method for predicting tire-pavement contact forces to excite dynamic tire models. Tire tread is analyzed to determine the response at the tire carcass line to external loading conditions. Results show that dynamic tread response below the natural frequency of the tread may be considered quasistatic. Static analysis shows negligible stress concentration effects at the tread edges along the carcass line. Noncontacting ribs produce vertical stress that is approximately 95 percent of the average stress along the carcass line directly below closely spaced tread elements. Tread and road surface input are combined to include the distributive effects of the tread with the higher-frequency surface effects. This is accomplished by discretizing the contact region into a finite number of equally sized elements. The pressure is computed for each element based on the tread pattern, the global pressure distribution, and the road surface input. The average pressure is determined by equating the axle loading force with the sum of the elemental pressures times elemental areas. Then the force distribution is computed over the tire-pavement contact region. Dynamic force response is determined by shifting the road and tread information and computing the force distribution for consecutive time steps.