Washington ? Ford Motor Co. is recalling 35,700 Crown Victoria police cars and taxis because of a wheel defect, the automaker and the federal government said Friday.

The announcement came just one day after Ford said it would offer fire-suppression technology in 2005 for Crown Victoria police cars, which have been criticized because of gas tank explosions in some rear-end collisions.

Ford also said it is recalling nearly 1.6 million Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers made between 1998 and 2001 and 2001-2002 Explorer Sport and Sport Trac models for a defect in the seat backs. A smaller number of the same vehicles also are being recalled because of a problem with speed control cables.

Ford said Friday that it knew of no injuries related to the three recalls.

Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley responded that the Crown Victoria has the government’s highest ratings for crashworthiness.