Nick,
Several times over the last few years we have had to replace pulley's that were discovered by the procedure you describe in 2b, checking for collective movement with pedal input.
In some cases the bearings in the pulley didn't feel that bad when we physically inspected them, but with the cables tensioned they were creating enough friction to show up on the pedal check.
A great check to give you advance warning of any yaw problems.
Regards.