Back to 292" as I didn't want to keep dealing with putting the tail cone up when backing up. I've installed a strip of Coroplast as my mud flap re-using the hinge From the tail cone experiment to see how well that will work back there.
I might try installing some metal facing to mitigate wear from the road debris as it comes up off the tire. Rubber would be ideal but I don't have any at the moment.