In this paper, comparisons are presented on the predicted tensile strains which can affect the fatigue life of a thin asphalt concrete (AC) pavement near the surface of pavement from three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) using 3D measured tire contact stresses of a radial tire and a bias ply tire and a layered linear elastic program (BISAR). The objective was to analyze the stress distributions for a 11R22.5 radial tire and a $10{ imes}20$ bias ply tire, and to compare the predicted tensile strains at the top and bottom of AC surface using different analysis methods. The results show that the stress distributions of two tires are similar but the 11R22.5 radial tire has much higher vertical contact stress than that of the $10{ imes}20$ bias ply tire. The predicted tensile strains at the bottom of AC layer under the center of tire showed higher value by BM (BISAR with the measured contact area) method, which the measured tire contact area is used in a layered elastic program, while the tensile strain at the top of AC surface of 3.5cm offset distance from tire edge by 3D FE analysis showed the highest values among three analysis methods.