Technician A says that too little backlash could cause the axle to run hot and to bind. Technician B says that an axle with too little backlash will require the pinion bearing preload to be adjusted. Which technician is correct?

Technician A is correct. Too little backlash can cause the axle to run hot and bind because the gears are too tightly meshed together, causing excessive friction and heat.

Technician B is incorrect. The pinion bearing preload is independent of the backlash. It is set when the pinion gear is installed and does not need to be adjusted if the backlash changes.

So, the correct answer is Technician A.

Technician A is correct in saying that too little backlash could cause the axle to run hot and to bind. This is because backlash is the amount of play between the gears in the differential. If there is too little backlash, the gears may not have enough room to move, causing them to bind and generate excessive heat.

Technician B, however, is not necessarily correct. The pinion bearing preload is the amount of force pushing the pinion bearings together. While it's true that an incorrect pinion bearing preload can cause issues, it's not directly related to the amount of backlash. The pinion bearing preload and the backlash are two separate adjustments that need to be made when setting up a differential. Therefore, only Technician A is correct.