Picture of bottom right corner showing the foot board and side rail connected with the bracket, and the bed, at https://imgur.com/a/XtlnM1Q and couple more pictures https://imgur.com/a/BMBi8KX.
The brackets are https://amzn.to/37PJbA3. The smaller screws that came with it were about 1/2" but I used 1 1/4" instead. The wood is pine, 1.5" thick.
My concern is whether these screws will shear or will get pulled out of the wood, after a long time of using the bed (frequent getting in and off loads, tossing and turning over night, etc.). I was wondering if I should switch these to structural screws of the same size, or bolts/nuts/washers so that they go all the way through these vertical side rails and can't be pulled out of the bed.
I asked someone at a big box store and he said what I have should be more than enough and the small screws are just used to secure the brackets to the wood and not really carrying the load, but I figure of course they are carrying the load being transferred from the brackets. He also said drilling all the way through for bolts may split the wood.
Best Answer
What is the diameter of the screws or size? 1-1/4" screws will have plenty of withdrawal strength and since there are 4 or 5 you really don’t need more than 3/4”. Wood screws that will fit the holes will provide plenty of strength. Since you have 1-1/4” those brackets will be stronger than the 2 pins they hang on.