A Coupled thermo-mechanical finite element model was employed to simulate the possible effects of varying laser scanning parameters on the surface hardening process for AISI 1045 and AISI 4140 steels. We took advantage of the high-power density of laser beams to heat the surface of workpieces quickly to achieve self-quenching effects. The finite element model, along with the temperature-dependent material properties, was applied to characterize the possible quenching and tempering effects during single-track laser surface heat treatment. We verified the accuracy of the proposed model through experiments. The effects of laser surface hardening parameters, such as power variation, scanning speed, and laser spot size, on the surface temperature distribution, hardening width, and hardening depth variations during the single-track surface laser treatment process, were investigated using the proposed model. The analysis results show that laser power and scanning speed are the key parameters that affect the hardening of the material. The numerical results reveal that the proposed finite element model is able to simulate the laser surface heat treatment process and tempering effect of steel.