I'd highly doubt that teflon tape...which great for sealing gaps in threads...will lend any of the structural strength to what the setup needs.
Another option would be to steel epoxy (i.e. plumbers epoxy that's impregnated with steel filings) a bolt into the rod...and use a nut to bolt the end of the rod assembly on.
Or...if you have a lathe...it'd be pretty straightforward just to machine another one. Disregarding the $$$$$$ of the lathe/tooling
...the rod would only cost you a couple of bucks.