Material and heat treatment selectino help

[KoolYungLuc]

I'm designing a rod to which two hook cranes are attached to lift a payload (the rod likewise is carrying a unspecified payload). So what I'm designing against , is obviously the bending that is exerted on the rod with the load put on and the hook crane reaction force on either side

So we are looking for a mat'l that's strong enough, except there is none that is strong enough already in stock in our database (at my company). So now I need to specify the heat treatment process for the strongest existing, appropriate-sized round bar stock for the rod
right now, I have two questions:
1) Selecting the HT process. I just graduated and have never done anything like this concerning specifying the HT process to obtain actual desirable numbers. Mind you, I'm still technically an intern, but I'm expected to do this too.

2) I also need to know if the mat'l is ductile and strong enough. I know I have to use properties like the Charpy/Izod to determine this, but problem is, I don't have the proper context/experience to know what criteria to compare it to.

here are some numbers to help set up a more vivid example.

This is a simple 2D bending/(minor) shear problem. I've already analyzed it given an arbitrary payload size width and weight and hook load area and width, etc.

Here are some numbers/parameters:
max stress (bending) on rod: 125 ksi
load rating: 5,650 lbf
matl (in stock at company): ASTM A434 Grade 4340 steel 1-1/2'' Round; Sy = 130 ksi; charpy: 25 ft-lb @ -40F; reduction in area = 35%
matl (ref, via matweb): AISI 4140
DF : 1.5-2 (pretty arbitrary)

Any help or tips would greatly be appreciated. I realize that some of these numbers might seem a bit arbitrary and vague, but thats because the customer was vague too lol

[devitg]

upload a scheme or dwg