Hi all

Sorry if I misunderstood the question. If it's the linkage you're talking about Dave is right that in an overload situation, rods in tension would be preferred because they will not buckle. As an example a 4.0 mm diameter fencing wire will have a breaking strain in tension of 480 kg. But a 3 kg force will cause a 1 metre long length to buckle in compression.
Or alternately a standard 26.9 mm by 2.3 mm wall thickness circular hollow section will resist a tension of 35000 kg, but a 1 metre long section will buckle under a 2800 kg compression load.
In spite of the above a good designer will allow for these variables. So if there are other functional reasons for preferring a push rod in design, then the push rod just has to be designed around that fact.