This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of the ring modeling method for tires, emphasizing the differences among the various tire ring models. A general tire ring model was then developed including all the nonlinear terms in the ring strain and the initial stresses induced by the internal pressure and rotation. The general equations of motion were derived from the Hamilton principle whth the geometric parameters for the model directly obtained from the tire design. The physical parameters were calculated from experimental mode parameters. A numerical example is given for a 195/70 R14-type tire. The analysis shows that the predicted natural frequencies and the tire mode shape agree well with experimental results.