2026 East to West Blackthorn / Tandara229RK

The Blackthorn 229RK leaves East to West's factory at 7,324 lbs dry, with a published GVWR of 9,945 lbs and 2,621 lbs of cargo capacity between the two. Cargo capacity is 26% of the loaded rating, and East to West's own definition is worth reading before you plan against it: cargo capacity is what remains for fresh water, gear, food, batteries and every dealer-installed accessory. Fresh water alone is 8.3 lb per gallon, so filling this trailer's 64-gallon fresh tank spends 531 lbs of that 2,621 lbs before anything else is loaded.

Pin weight is 1,145 lbs, 16% of the dry weight as published; it rises as the trailer is loaded and comes off the truck’s payload, not its towing rating, so check it against the payload on your own door sticker (pin weight and payload).

Off hookups: 132 gallons of grey and black capacity against 64 gallons of fresh water, so fresh water runs out first (tank sizes by length).

Against the rest of the Blackthorn roster this is the 1st of 7 floorplans by dry weight, in a line that runs from 7,324 lbs to 13,439 lbs. It is the lightest plan in the line, which makes it the one to look at first if the tow vehicle is the constraint.

Plan the tow on loaded weight, not the 7,324 lbs dry figure: half the published cargo capacity brings this plan to about 8,634 lbs, and the published GVWR of 9,945 lbs is the limit (how to read trailer weights).

East to West’s line listing and this floorplan’s own factory page agree on all 4 shared figures. Dry weight plus cargo capacity equals the published GVWR exactly. A missing row means East to West does not publish that figure (how figures are verified).

East to West publishes no floorplan description for this plan in the channel this page is built from - only the numeric specification block. Rather than describe a layout from the floorplan code, which would be a guess dressed as a fact, this page carries what the factory publishes and says where it stops. 229RK is a Blackthorn designation and this site does not decode it into a layout claim.

How the 229RK differs from the other six Blackthorn floorplans. Most distinctive first. How these ranks are worked out.

• Dry weight, 7,324 lb: lightest of seven; next is the 279BH (8,579 lb).
• GVWR, 9,945 lb: lowest of seven; next is the 279BH (11,520 lb).
• Cargo capacity, 2,621 lb: smallest of seven; next is the 3820DSL (2,911 lb).
• Cargo capacity as a share of GVWR, 26.4%: largest of seven; next is the 279BH (25.5%).
• Pin weight, 1,145 lb: lightest of seven; next is the 279BH (1,320 lb).
• Length, 28 ft 1 in: shortest of seven; next is the 279BH (32 ft 11 in).
• Exterior height, 12 ft 3 in: lowest of seven; next is the 279BH (12 ft 5 in).
• Pin weight as a share of dry weight, 15.6%: second-smallest of seven, between the 279BH (15.4%) and the 3750LK (16.8%).

Next to the 279BH, the nearest heavier floorplan by dry weight, the 229RK is 1,255 lb lighter by dry weight, has a GVWR 1,575 lb lower, has 320 lb less cargo capacity, has a pin weight 175 lb lighter, is 4 ft 10 in shorter and stands 2 in lower; the two publish the same fresh tank, grey tank and black tank.

Blackthorn is the fifth-wheel end of the East to West range, and it is the one East to West roster where the loaded rating is a published factory number rather than a gap. All seven floorplans carry a GVWR and all seven tie out exactly against dry weight plus cargo capacity -- 9,945 lb at the light end to 16,350 lb at the top. The roster splits in two. Two plans sit in the factory's half-ton grouping at 7,324 and 8,579 lb dry with 1,145 and 1,320 lb on the pin; the other five run 10,864 to 13,439 lb dry with 2,120 to 2,350 lb on the pin. Every one of the seven is a fifth wheel, so that pin load comes off the truck's payload rating rather than its towing rating, and the half-ton grouping is a statement about weight rather than about hitch type. Cargo capacity runs 2,621 to 3,876 lb, and lengths run 28 ft 1 in to 42 ft 1 in.

A full 64-gallon fresh tank is about 531 lb of water (water counts as cargo: 49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.2), 20% of the 229RK’s 2,621 lb cargo capacity, leaving 2,090 lb. Across 7 Blackthorn floorplans the water share runs 14% to 20%, and this plan’s is the highest. Nearest on that share: Blackthorn 3820DSL at 18%. Your own unit’s figure is on the label inside its entry door (49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.3).