cypriot
i could be wrong here but i don't think there are chromium plated con rods...
there are con rods and there are chromium plated barrels.
all con rods are made of good quality steel for the most part.
if your question is how do i get a stronger one, the answer is to polish and peen one. not the other wayt around by the way.
polish and peen.
a polish evens out the surface anbd then the peen hardens it. the idea is to give a crack no chance of starting anywhere in the surface.
regards
Taffy