A tire dissection method and apparatus to separate the rubber and steel components in a tire by using a high pressure fluid (9). The high pressure fluid (9) removes the rubber liner (1) and excises the steel bead bundle (7) in a tire. The steel components (4, 5, 7) in the tire may be stressed to move away from the rubber components (6) prior to application of the high pressure fluid (9). The process yields four distinct products from a vehicle tire: crumb rubber, chunk rubber, high tensile steel, and plated steel. The process is easy to use, reliable, and portable. The rubber liner (1) can be softened prior to processing by the high pressure fluid (9) to improve the efficiency of the process.