You are on the right lines with your thinking, in that binding pushrods is a bad thing, but you will still probably need some form of guide for the rods as, don't forget it pushes as well as pulls, and you definitely don't want the rod to bend and lose control / movement of the control surface.

This is especially true of the elevator, as most have the control horn fitted on the bottom, thus making 'up' elevator the 'push' and 'down' elevator the 'pull'. You do not want to rely on the pushrod not bending when you frantically pull the stick back to get up elevator as the ground rapidly approaches in a dive!

I agree the plastic push rods used by some companies (SIG, for instance) are almost impossible to stop binding (they also change length as the weather changes, so trim keeps changing). I always replace the actual pushrod with threaded steel rod, inside the original outer casing as the guides. It's a bit heavier, but completely free of binding, and much easier on the mind when flying!

David C.