Tire force and moment (F&M) characteristics are important for the analysis and design of vehicle-handling dynamics and ride comfort. Compared with a general tire F&M measuring method, it provides a detailed insight into the generation of tire F&M characteristics by measuring the tire carcass deformation during static and side-slip maneuvers. A tire observation system with two GOM optical measuring facilities was developed to characterize the tire carcass deformation of the standing and rolling tire. Structural parameters of tire carcass flexibility have been identified based on a polynomial physical tire model with the help of measured bending curves of the tire carcass. A good correlation between the measured and estimated tire force and moment has proven the validity of the developed characterization method.