Criss-cross pattern, is it really that important or not? Using a criss-cross pattern is a super important idea to remember. It can keep everything operating to spec. Let’s start off with what a criss-cross pattern is, this is when you tighten bolts/nuts down in a criss-cross pattern. Thus the name. An example we could use, is a four bolt machine being bolted to the floor. After the bolts are finger tight, we could start from the top right corner and torque that one down. We would then move to the bottom left, torque that, top left and finally the bottom right. Another example to solidify our understanding of the criss-cross pattern, is the tightening of lug nuts on the rim of a car. You would find one to start with, then cross to the opposite side and keep doing so until all lug nuts have been torqued. If you look closely, you’ll see it resembles a star pattern.
Now on to why this is so important. Not doing the criss-cross pattern, could lead to a misaligned machine, which could lead to severe vibrations or even soft foot. “Soft foot” is when not all the legs of a machine are evenly touching the ground. With misaligned machines, it will cause more wear and tear on your machines in a shorter amount of time, resulting in more down time.
Below is a great video to watch showing some common examples:
